And anything within a block or so of the ocean is going to take an incredible beating from the winter weather salt air etc etc.. and then you have the Tsunami that is coming with teh massive earth quake that will come and that will wipe out whole towns on the Oregon coasts.

Take the homerun stories with a grain of salt, but I have found incremental success in my investing career, and I credit the little success to being consistent on the process of underwriting, making connections, and being a landlord.

I do not want to go into another vacation market but rather a metro area with a more diversified economy again just to get into a different type of asset.That being said I do want to continue to short term rent the next few properties we get at least in the first few years of ownership in order to increase cash flow to combat these higher prices and carrying costs before potentially converting to more passive long terms down the line.Therefore I am looking for markets that 1) have a decent draw of visitors year round 2) have regulations that allow strs in some parts of the city 3) Are in growing cities in the west or south.Below is a list of markets I have identified as potential places to look and I was hoping to get some insight from either other investors doing the same thing or agents/investors in any of these markets on whether this is potentially a good market to explore or not.1) Salt Lake City (this is right at the top of my list due to its proximity to ski resorts, expanding of the airport and long term strategic business planning of the area but I have very little knowledge of this market)2) Denver 3) Phoenix (used to live in AZ and like the fact that the state of AZ seems to look favorable on strs)4) Tucson (see above but lower home prices/potentially less appreciation)5) San Diego/LA (these are attractive because of their proximity to my home in Irvine)6) San Antonio (love that it is very close to the booming Austin and feel that this is a market that could see some real growth in the future)7) Tampa/St Pete (I have always been very interested in this market for both short term and long term rentals)8) Raleigh (have invested in Charlotte and love NC but again very little knowledge on this area)Any insights or advice on any of this would be greatly appreciated.

Any book that  you read or podcast that you see..make sure you take with a grain of salt and also use your own judgement:)

@Dav Pohote I would take the gloom and doom talk from your agent with a grain of salt.

@Sam Newell -- The CAP rate and COC returns through FIG's new 4-plex constructions are the selling points in what is otherwise a very competitive rental property market in Salt Lake and Utah counties.  

In all transactions, I take what people say with a grain of salt.

But I'd take anyone's prediction on rental rates with a grain of salt and more than a dash of "show me".  

Westchester NY, who pays for (expenses) heat, hot water, electric, snow removal, salting, trash bin maintenance, plumbing stoppages, plumbing leaks, key changes, sweeping and cleaning, CCTV, rehabs after tenant moves out.  

If you decide to join, take their claims with a pinch of salt and conduct your own due diligence.My experience has not been positive so far, but I am hoping for improvements in the future.