I think it's mostly the taxes and cost of living, but I expect this trend to accelerate as the older segments of the population migrate to Florida and the like.

-----------------------------------((OPTIONAL READ)) ADDITIONAL INFOSo far in my analysis, I am collecting the following data:- Net migration (at the state level) over the past 10 years & 1 year- Median sale price (redfin)- Value appreciation over the past 5 years and 1 year (redfin)- Average rent (rentcafe)- Rent to price ratio - Income tax- Job growth and industry trends (haven't found a good source to gather data yet - just reading high-level articles for now) - Average rent growth (if someone has a good source for this please share as I haven't found one yet)- Cost of living index (numbeo)- Quality of life index (though investing is my main priority now, I am still looking at quality of life a bit)

And CLEARLY there is extreme demand that doesn't seem to be fading with the mass migration from California.I think for me I'm preparing to look for specific opportunities, but doubt they'll be on the MLS.

So we're looking for a place where 5-10 years from now we could start migrating to be together. 

For these reasons unless an investor is local to the asset I like my clients to own in strong suburban to urban core areas preferably in a warm belt state where population are growing heavily with net migration away from the cold belt states.Cold belt states prices tend to be less and cap rates a little higher but many areas are declining.

Absolutely and that's my intent at least to start out but I wanted to factor in those costs in the event I do migrate it over to a property manager.  

Population growth: what do you know about migration and organic population growth in Lubbock?

As crime rises, those who can afford safer places will migrate towards those safer places.

I must be working with 10 other investors who have your exact criteria and they're all shopping this market because the potential growth in rents and appreciation and close proximity to the Bay Area.I'd check out these posts I've written here to see if it interests you:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/55/topics/396376-looking-to-get-unstuck-in-the-sf-bay-areahttps://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/621/topics/396725-millennial-migration-to-sacramento-2017---here-comes-the-rushAs for investing out of state, Jacksonville sounds like the best option.

:-)https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/621/topics/396725-millennial-migration-to-sacramento-2017---here-comes-the-rushhttps://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/55/topics/396376-looking-to-get-unstuck-in-the-sf-bay-area