When you say smaller towns and communities do you specifically mean Lafayette,or surrounding areas as well? 

It is just 1.5 miles from downtown Indianapolis and surrounded by $800,000 single-family homes.

Hi guys, I'm looking to begin building a real estate portfolio in Columbus, OH or surrounding areas.

I totally understand and I'm not trying to convince them that they should, especially since certain areas are getting too many tourists and the infrastructure doesn't always follow. 

But you gotta be on the ground.Great on paper and some years you might get 15% returns and next year -15% returns.Plus, there is no true value in such areas as homes sell for $1,000 and others to unsuspecting out of state buyers for $60,000 where the provider makes a $20,000+ margin.Then it goes vacant, vandalized and back to a $1,000 houseLooks for areas with a more consistent sales value where homeowners also live and not just investor owned.B class in my eyes is:1) Close to infrastructure like schools, hospitals, shopping mall, larger employer, etc...2) Mix of homeowners and investor owned (leaning toward more homeowners).3) Well kept yards and no boarded up homes.

If the houses look run down, not kept up, it's most likely not Class A  and look at what's surrounding the neighborhood as far as types of businesses (check cashing, bars on their windows).Bay Area (it can be neighborhood by neighborhood and street by street) I don't know the Peninsula well but expensive Palo Alto would be Class A to me:Class A: Orinda, Lafayette, Moraga, Walnut Creek, San Ramon, Danville, Dublin, Pleasanton, maybe parts of Pleasant Hill and Concord, parts of  Pinole?

No growth, job security, new infrastructure, poor school systems, lack of policy enforcement, etc.

Felicia Hey Felicia,Now is a great time to get back into the game, and you're fortunate there just so happens to be many opportunities in your back yard, more so in the areas surrounding Charlotte as the city has become so competitive...A solid lender will help you take your business further than you ever could by yourself using just your own cash.While you're able to derive tremendous value from the service they can offer your business, there is a cost associated...In our experience, the better the deal, the lower the cost of entry.

We are just talking about dollars but they also suck way more time in management.Infrastructure- Apart from the utility infrastructure I want you to think of amenities like improved roads, pools, clubhouses etc Delinquent Tenants and Poor Management- It is not unusual to purchase communities where the owners have not been completely forthright with their rent collection.

The op is of Seattle, and every little surrounding city has adopted their own set of rental laws(many following and based on Seattle, Portland, Tacoma, etc.