I am trying my best to be methodical about where to invest out-of-state, so I made the following criteria:Population: >800k people in 2023 (based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_statistical_area)Population growth2020-2023 Population growth >5% (based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_statistical_area)... 

Bonus depreciation is just a special part of the US tax code.It allows you to take accelerated depreciation on portions of your property depending on when an asset is put into service.At the time of this writing, you can write off a huge portion (60% in 2024) of many qualified components that have a useful lifespan of 15 years or less.That means a certain percentage of things like landscaping, sidewalks, latches, appliances, fences, certain flooring, etc is depreciable in year 1.The bonus depreciation rate percentage changes yearly depending on the administration and the tax code.For years 2015 through 2017 first-year depreciation for all the items on a 15-year schedule or less was set to 50%.It was scheduled to go down to 40% in 2018 and 30% in 2019 and then 0% in 2020.But then Trump got elected, and he enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.That moved the bonus depreciation percentage to 100% from 2017 to 2022.In 2023 it went down to 80% and it’s currently at 60%.Depending on who gets elected again, 100% may be back on the table.Only time will tell.We know that the US government wants to incentivize more development and ownership of RE.They want Americans to continue to build and maintain our physical world.That’s why real estate is one of the most tax-advantaged assets in the US.Depreciation and bonus depreciation for RE are very positive and will likely continue in the years ahead.

There's so many catalysts for population and job growth (Intel, Honda, Amazon, Nationwide Hospital, etc).

It takes a long time to develop land from scratch it is hard to do with all of the government regulations and codes.

Working our on capital stack for a large multifamily development and needing some different options with private debt/equity.

Storage units, industrial, raw land, development (a form of value add), zoning changes (a form of value add), office, hotel/motel, NNN, etc.  

Also areas where you have trusted family and friends that can give some feedback on local growth areas, areas that might be deteriorating or areas that are development embattled.

We have a neighborhood grades / development map that I think could be helpful for a beginner. 

I keep hearing that it makes sense to focus on markets that have strong economic and population growth, but there's really no overlap between population growth, economic growth, low prices, and low taxes.So my question really is, what's the best way to get out of this?

It’s perfect for building a few homes and some general development.