I currently have five properties in the Atlanta metro area and I'm picking up one in Cleveland. 

So I'd start where you could buy the average home in the metro area and then look at average rents and start looking at that.

We've helped hundreds of investors in the Metro Detroit area and are the only ones analyzing Detroit's 183+ Neighborhoods to ID the best ones to invest in. 

I know for sure that in my area of Texas (well outside of major metro areas), we've seen the cost to build new homes almost double in price. 

@Sean Gallagher not a sales pitch, but this is what we provide for investors in Metro Detroit:)Understand that if you hire the latest & greatest PMC, many grow using poorly trained VA's. - Your portfolio will suffer:(You want a PMC that has great systems in place, including a great portal where you can keep tabs on eveything.You will also need to manage your PMC on a regular basis.

Unless you're locking up 10 acres in a large metro where a DR Horton or KB homes might come in, thats a little less localized.

Hyattsville and surrounding areas are more affordable than other parts of the metro. 

Here’s our OPINION for the Metro Detroit market (use as a template for your target area!)

There are very few, good buying opportunities in the Austin metro-plex for pure investors.  

I generated the list by combining Zillow's smooth, seasonally adjusted home value dataset (ZHVI) with their rent index (ZORI) for metro areas.