A future downturn in the economy shouldn't affect their value any worse (because, your offer should already be ridiculously below the market value of the turnkey house next door).

In addition, the fact it is the norm to have the ACs enclosed (as to not have copper wiring stolen) was a red flag for me.It definitely works for some investors & they do well out there, however you’d really have to prove to me it was a good long term growing economy.

I am also thinking if the economy gets bad I will still be able to rent these homes out.I just want to put this money to use in real estate.

Economic anchors are things that are not going anywhere anytime soon, like state government, major universities, major health care centers, or manufacturers that are independent of the economy like military suppliers.I understand that the closer the anchor the better, but does it have to be in the same city/zip or can it just be in same county or next town over?

He is doing bigger apartments and there is economy in scale, that's probably how he makes his 200 per door but he was doing that when he started out there. 

super rough area at those price pointsOKC = pretty stable but economy and strength of market are not the best.alternatives to check  Indy  low tax ripping economy and tenant base and 100k buys you a nice home  do NOT buy 50k or under homes in any major MSA those are the hood plain and simple.out skirts of Cleveland we are finding are treating us well..

Recently, the economy has gotten better in this area and the demand for work has gone up noticeably.

I liked the growing economy in that area (Greenville, Greer, Spartanburg), and now have 5 tenants in my building

I know that appreciation is a gamble, but if a city's economy is diversified and there is a finite amount of land in the prime location that is downtown/waterfront then chances are it should appreciate, right?

Most importantly, does any of these submarkets have any economic anchors  like state government, major universities, major health care centers, or manufacturers that are independent of the economy like military suppliers that employs most of the residents of that submarket?