. :)   I'll likely do the HELOC and not worry about the extra taxes on gains over $500k when I finally do sell someday. 

Finally.

Realtor.com has a lot of data on rent cost and housing prices. - What driving factors should I take into account when l'm looking for an up n' coming hot markets?

I’ve been thinking about getting into real estate investing for years now and finally feel like I am at a good place financially to start making moves.

This will give you an idea of where you can be priced at with factual data rather than guessing a 3%. 3% could be sufficient but the data will help you be confident in your decision. 

Uses big data to identify properties ……….has a subscription to Loopnet4.

After a week or so of looking through the other threads I finally found the Canadian forum.

A lot of the data you are looking at in terms of what homes rent for down here are not accurate btw.

Also, the historical data tells me that 3 years of underperformance means that future performance must improve substantially in order to meet the IRR goal for the investment.

While I’ve recently joined Intero Real Estate in Fremont, I bring a data-driven, analytical approach to real estate, thanks to my engineering and project management background.Over the years, I’ve lived in various parts of the Bay Area and have developed deep knowledge of local neighborhoods, schools, and market trends.