For any value add project, the primary evaluation is based on the numbers.Provided you have trustworthy teammates for the renovation side and a competent agent on the valuation side, you'll perform no matter the location.It seems your weighing factors that relate more towards long-term investing and where your asset will appreciate the most.In respect to emerging markets, you'll want to use characteristics like population growth, employment growth, safety trends and path of progress.

Tenants can only pay rent if they maintain stable employment with comparable wages.

Lenders will want a letter from your employer that states you are allowed to work remote from where you currently live and that this move will not affect your income. 

You state that you have 20% - 25% equity position for safety, but you don't based on the information you gave. 

We are all in business and in that space building your investor base or client base is job number 1.

I did a ton of work to set it up and have had to manually adjust the base price almost daily because it was so out of wack.  

Rinse and repeat as many times as life allows, or convert to buying pure investments.Consider employment with a property management company.

Your tenants can only continue paying similar rents if they remain employed at similar wages.

I am based in Edmonton, Alberta.

What rental strategy are you looking to employ?