After graduation and looking for opportunity and something other than the desert of Las Vegas I moved to Indiana.

I've lived in another part of the Inland Area (part-time, anyway) for well over 30 years and am a semi-retired real estate and note investor.There's an incredible amount to learn however, if you have the right attitude, are willing to study (a lot) and do some driving down the mountain to some reia meetings, your learning curve will be helped greatly.Here are some challenges for you to consider: do you intend to invest only locally in the mountain communities or surrounding areas, perhaps including the desert cities?

Law says you can only build a medium size sfr on an average size lot and then they wonder why the sprawl reaches the desert, and why the city is broke having to pay for thousands of miles of unnecessary public infrastructures 

I know Stone Mountain is kind of frowned upon- but these subdivisions (mountain oaks and also waters edge a little further north) look like oases in the desert.

I guess this old news but Desert Hot Springs went for the grow business in a big way ,Indio soon to follow http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-marijuana-culti...

I own a rental in High Desert area (Victorville) of Southern California.

I thought I was so worldly until I hit the entrenched drug dealers in the CA desert.

You are highly underestimating W's ability to have f*cked this country up (though pretty impressive for a drunken military deserter)...

I can make an apple pie instead of a peach pie, I'll have a desert for dinner, but since apples are cheaper than peaches, it is the best economic choice to enjoy a similar experience with apple pie. 

I've never been to ABQ but I'm a fan of the desert South West in general, and ABQ is a lot cheaper than California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah.