I have roughly 80 units in Pittsburgh now and am still investing here (I'm local), but also evaluating out of state for a bit of diversification.

We experienced having our Helocs frozen overnight, so I will move quickly on getting a cash out refi on our investment property if we keep it and have been contemplating pulling out the cash on our primary HELOCYes, the stock market is volatile but it's liquid and gives us some diversification. 

This is because at scale diversification is your friend and it's easier to start now than later.  

I like to look at population growth, diversification of economy, and relative real estate pricing to similar markets.

My issue is that I just started investing last year when multi-family became the goto diversification from the stock market and properties are going for cash, above asking price, as-is, and under contract within minutes from when the opportunity is emailed to me.

My goal was diversification away from the "Company Town".

I am also near retirement but plan to keep my properties because I believe in diversification and that you need to have both passive income from rentals and from a portfolio/IRAs to survive retirement.

I'm absolutely brand new to real estate investing.  I'm wanting to invest in flipping and building a portfolio of multi-family rentals.    I am also looking into investing in hard money lenders.  I am currently openin...

I think you'd be better off living outside of the area you want to and buying a four unit for better diversification in a state with CA's landlord experience and a better chance of starting to break even sooner.

Fees, volatility and lack of access to capital all helped make my decision.If you are looking for diversification, well real estate offers multiple markets, asset classes and strategies.