I'd look to buy near a "hub"" hospitals with 3,000 plus jobs or colleges, like SAGU in waxahachie, community college in lancaster, near UTA in arlington, near UNT/TWU in denton. pros: easily managed, easily bought and sold, less risk in getting a less destroyed property, accurately know the costs of minor renovationscons: lower (more unpredictable) rental demand for a shared room, longer commutes (higher cost) from outskirts, less privacy. 

I grew up in the Harker Heights/Killeen area and my parents still live there and I think that Killeen and Harker Heights are going to be the main hubs for appealing to the military crowd; they can be consistent long-term renters depending on their deployments, rank, etc..

Raleigh North Carolina just got ranked #1 as a tech hub in the United States after Silicon Valley.

The hub of our region is doing pretty well and is only 30 minutes down the road.

Manufacturers move in, and move out, but we are surrounded in all directions by 100 miles of farmland - and this is the area hub. 

EnergyNo state taxesPro-businessPanama CanalPort citiesCoastal areaFarming area (farming was huge last year)Cheap foreign laborTech hub (Austin)Conservative politicsReligious coreHighway access (transportation)Centrally locatedYouthful and energetic (Austin, Dallas)Higher ed (UT, TCU, A&M, TSU, Baylor etcEducation (13-15 students per class)Cultural significance (New dream state)Affordable housing (American dream)Raw landSports (hunting, fishing, racing, NFL etc.)Theatre and artsPoliticsThis is not all inclusive but Texas ranks high or top in all of these areas compared to other states.

Amazon is just dominating our real estate headlines here in DFW.Amazon eyeing another big shipping hub south of Dallas

Easily sets itself apart from the rest because it connects directly to your wifi without an extra "hub" of any kind.

utm_source=newsletterYou can find a glossary of some acronyms here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/rei/real-estate-abbreviations/You might also want to read: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide - https://assets2.biggerpockets.com/uploads/user_file/file_object/329/UBG_2018.pdf...actually the entire section: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guidesBP has a whole section dedicated to education and starting up - https://www.biggerpockets.com/intro-to-rei/overviewGet busy with the entire Education section on BP:https://www.biggerpockets.com/hubs/property-typeshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/hubs/financehttps://www.biggerpockets.com/hubs/strategyhttps://www.biggerpockets.com/hubs/finding-deals/analyze-dealshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/hubs/property-management (including TENANTS MAINTENANCE)https://www.biggerpockets.com/hubs/business-operations (and the sub section on REAL ESTATE MARKETING TOOLS & TECHNOLOGY TAXES & ACCOUNTING LEGAL TEAM)One way or another you will pay your "real estate tuition" - either in time, effort or money.

We are now the Central Florida Real Estate Investment Hub.....but it's all people who have met or found the meetup on BP that are involved.