The reality is that a lot of statistics use METRO Centers.

Source: http://www.wakegov.com/tax/statistics/Pages/default.aspx

The general statistic is it takes about 1,000 letters to get an average of 40 calls, which gives you an average of 1-2 deals.

That fits the statistics from your first round of mail.

MSA and therefore crossed of a few locations from my list that have significant sprawl, but would still meet the 500,000 person requirement if the full statistical area was includedMy result: 8 citiesSan Antonio, TexasFort Worth, TexasLas Vegas, NevadaCharlotte, North CarolinaPhoenix, ArizonaHouston, TexasJacksonville, FloridaPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaStep 7: Going back to the generic beginner advice of investing close to home, I prioritized the East Coast cities that remained on my listMy results: 3 citiesPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaJacksonville, FloridaCharlotte, North CarolinaStep 8: Leveraging the following two resources from a friend, I was able to cross Jacksonville off my list due to greatest distance from NYC of the three and highest risk of natural disaster, a combination that I did not want to deal withhttp://money.cnn.com/interactive/pf/real-estate/natural-disaster-risk-map/http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/05/01/weekinreview/01safe.html?

One of the things people like about single-family rentals is that statistically, people stay longer, and subjectively, they tend to treat it more like a home than people in multi-fmaily houses do.

Bob Stewart's presentation on local market statistics was awesome - and his promise (since fulfilled) to provide the data every month is exceedingly helpful.  

Unless your scale is so small as to be statistically insignificant, it's not realistic for any business to expect 100% capture rates.

Millennials are statistically a renter class, and about 1/4 of the total population so renters will be there.

The seller's broker pays the buyer's agent a share of the commission.In most people's minds, the FSBO route probably looks like a win-win opportunity for both seller and buyer, and it can be (although NAR research says sales prices are significantly statistically lower for FSBO compared to using a Realtor - good news for you!).