At first, concentrate on 1-2 markets and become experts in those cities down to a neighborhood level.  

I like warm belt states for long term growth way, way better than cold belt states.You have an anti-business political state, high urban core concentration for New York, and a cold belt state that is a triple Whammy.Right now suburbs are booming in warm belt states.

The lender will be looking for market value, so not sure why you want to concentrate on them.

Hey Scott,I mainly concentrate on Investing in South Florida right now but let me refer you to Michael Pinter who hosts the Nassau County Real estate investing meet ups. 

I buy at a great price, concentrate on repairs that are first, regulatory (fire, electrical code), second, raise the rents to market max, and lastly,  just makes it prettier (landscaping, fencing, paving).  

It sounds like you should start concentrating on the upcoming house hack and not on other people's positions in life.

The report cautions about a stock market recovery driven by a concentrated number of large capital-intensive technology titans, while many labor-intensive sectors (that provide the goods and services for human interaction) lagging far behind.

It takes concentration on the 5 "C's" CreditCharacterCapitalCollateralCapacityIt is usually a combination of their willingness to cover the desired LTV/LTC, Liquidity, Credit Scores and Cash Available for down payment. 

Concentrate on finding a good deal and managing it well. 

As an investor, your goal should be to have a PM who you truly trust with your investments so you can concentrate on growing your portfolio.