Small multi-family is hot right now due to house-hacking (low barrier of entry), and future cash-flow. 

Not only do we find the housing market to be a little more manageable, but a lot of people travel there year round. 

Buying a large new build home can also work well as a house hack as you can charge a premium rent, and generally most bedrooms built now a days have en suites (at least in my market).  

So this is mostly in reference to us doing our own repairs, not necessarily looking to hire other people.

Anyone can live anywhere they want if they have the money, and sometimes houses are bought and then rented out without much background checking on the people moving in.

If you don't trust your agent enough to tell you not to buy a house, then get a new agent!

those 3000 jobs would get coffee and need dry cleaners and cars repaired etc. 

There are a few Dundalk neighborhoods I'd stay away from but for the most part it's a great area for house hacking/BRRRR.

Everything in house.

There's lots of opportunities in developing neighborhoods, but also seems a bit saturated at the moment.Also, definitely budget security (remote control cameras, alarm system, etc.) for your properties, as there are a lot of people who occupy themselves by breaking into houses and stealing anything they can sell.Lastly, there are a ton of contractors looking for a quick buck.