For the short term, I would not be too worried if I bought right and have a short time horizon for my flip investment.

Those dependencies specifically are 1) your interest rate. 2) your time horizon. 3) your appreciation. 4) your rent. 5) your other costs. 

I used to prefer Minneapolis because I thought it was flashier and had higher appreciation, but I've come to prefer St Paul because it's more quiet and there's no rent control, crazy tenant screening restrictions, or rent control on the horizon that I've heard of.. 

tldr: I want to invest in a home in a city with beach city weather that also has the most potential for gains due to gentrification in the next 10 years.David,For a 10-year time horizon, I recommend San Pedro.Development has just begun on the waterfront.

Depending on your particular life circumstances, the area you live and invest in, performance can vary dramatically based on your time horizon and strategy implemented.  

As an example, if you limit yourself to $400k whereas a great property comes along with $600k price tag, you may miss it entirely since you won't be even looking at $600k properties.It is important to know your exit strategy and time horizon too.

@Belén Cosenza I don't think you are totally done for here as long as there are no looming CapEx items on the horizon.

Age and time horizon is a huge factor in our goals and strategy but we all have the common goal that you mentioned in the original post of financial freedom.

That is many times not the case and even as operators expand their horizons they can experience growing pains.Understand what their experience with the asset type you’re investing in is, and if they have strategic partnerships to help them avoid mistakes if they’re taking on a new asset class.With multifamily: Understand their experience in that class of property (A, B, C, D).

I am sorry to keep asking, but how can anyone invest in the Detroit market with the subprime auto crisis on the horizon?