I think part of what keeps real estate affordable is our astronomical property taxes.

With house hacking, I put very little down but that would make my payments astronomical, right?

It would take some really savvy investing to make any money purchasing single units and trying to get a great cash flow while paying those astronomical maintenance dues.

Cleveland gets a bad rap from experts who have never invested here or given it more than a passing glance.Yes, you can have a terrible time if you get sucked in by the astronomical cap rates advertised on some of these deals - those are in the worst neighborhoods and you should steer clear.However, there are tons of great affordable properties in the B/C+ class that are much more stable and still offer good cashflow.

Is it astronomically expensive? 

personally.. between property taxs and foundation issues this is a tough market... again just personal opinion based on my expiernce owning property there and paying those astronomical tax bills and having to do foundation work on every single property I ever bought.. that alone wipes out 2 to 5 years of cash flow.

I still go back and visit but the standard of living in the Bay Area versus Texas is astronomical.

I think Bozeman might rank higher on the "scenic beauty" scale, but the price growth is so astronomical, that those other markets should get some attention soon.I'm jealous of that fishing trip. 

The only reason anyone would want to live in NYC and pay the astronomical accommodation prices there is because you're making a ton of money there. 

Astronomical.