If that is your methodology, God Bless You.

Policing in 2015 has become a methodology of public relations, driven by public opinion, with liability avoidance as it's #1 priority. 

It includes, among other things, a comprehensive map of the Cleveland area, grading each area from A+ down to F, using a consistent, objective and transparent methodology using publicly available data, and overviews of some of the areas that are most popular with investors.

Regarding some of the questions, this is Freddie Mac's description of its methodology which does seem as a reliable means of having some idea of home price movement: "The Freddie Mac House Price Index (FMHPISM) provides a measure of typical price inflation for houses within the U.S. ...Series are available at three levels of geographical aggregation: Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), state, and national.

Dave's methodology is great.  

This "study" made a lot of headlines recently, for example, but if you actually look at the research methodology, it is extremely flawed.

Foldvary predicted the real estate crash in 2006 using this same methodology. 

RCG has trained a number of MLO firms over several states in their structural and compliance responsibilities successfully (meaning agreement by state regulators as to the methodology), but most are not knowledgeable enough to transact the process correctly.There is a confrontation about to happen with two MLO firms in California that are advertising what you are suggesting without the structure being correct, that will include RCG and two independent California law firms later this month.

Here again this is my methodology, I'll never state that's it's right but it has provides me leverage to account for unforeseen expense after closings. 

Its magnitude in difference in cash flow that sort of makes LA's appreciation strength almost moot and then Baltimore also appreciates at a not so shabby rate.People are talking about all these value add strategies that you could use in the LA market to even get close to the Baltimore numbers but they forget, you can also apply the same strategy to Baltimore and make even more.Of course you can also reinvest equity not just in LA but also in Baltimore.If this were a city with a slightly softer monthly cash flow, LA of course would have won but thing is, Baltimore isn't even the strongest CF market in the country.I just happen to run into this article by the way... shocked to see how they got to the same conclusion on Baltimore:So you also have realtytrac, use a somewhat different methodology and strangely have Baltimore ranked as #1 in terms of rental returns.