Pretty much have it narrowed down to Bonny Doon or Corralitos/ Day Valley at this point. 

As you can see below, current inventory levels are about 1.8 months of supply, which indicates a high level of demand.Rentals$/SqFtThe following data is for the entire MLS, not just the narrow property profile we target.

Best bet: connect with local investors/lenders/brokers to narrow your focus (what type of asset, what sub-market of the metroplex).

You should start with a general idea of price point and strategy, which should get you narrowed down a bit, then you'll want to look at job and population growth (City-Data.com) and get a feel for each of the markets, once you have selected a market you can go a bit deeper into sub-markets and unique details of the market as a whole.

That'll help you narrow your focus - buy a rental (small or large) versus invest in pool of money as you called it - which I assume you're referring to syndication.

Hello everyone! I had a question I wanted to ask the general biggerpockets community because I felt it could not only benefit my self to know but others. When you are getting started in real estate investing or even i...

When the properties stop appreciating at their recent high rate, I expect rents to continue to appreciate to narrow the gap between the property appreciation and the rent appreciation. 

You need to narrow down your interest and figure out specifically what you are looking for.

I agree with @Chris Sellers that your next step is to begin narrowing down your market choices.My best advice:Be ruthless with the numbers - Be crystal clear on your financial objectives and how you'll measure success.

Maybe someone here can narrow down the podcast and you could look into that.