Looking at a three or four year segment of time can be powerfully misleading.    

Smaller cities may be too dependent on a single employer or market segment, which can lead to instability over the long run.Both state and metro populations are increasing.

The city I live in (Rome) is extremely competitive in the property management segment so growth will take time along with finding some competitive edge.

Baltimore has always been a very segmented city by neighborhood.

I personally think that campus can be conquered if approached correctly with a different mindset and set of processes and procedures tailored to that segment, it's just a different animal.

Riverside has historically been hit hard when RE markets turn down, but, this was due to the fact that the job market was not as robust for the blue collar workers and a large segment commuted to OC and LA and moved back to were the jobs were, this has changed over the years and with more blue collar jobs offered locally we should (cross your fingers) not be quite as bad during future down turns.

So, the market segment instability of the tenant’s employers is an important consideration.It's not just about the jobs that your tenants have today.

Therefore, if your property targets low-income workers, there is a high probability that your property will have extended vacancies during economic downturns.We target a tenant segment who are direct income producers that are difficult to replace.

If you buy a property based on someone's opinion and you do not have a deep understanding of the tenant segment the property attracts, you will likely lose a lot of money.Family and friends - Real estate investing is a business, not a hobby.

The reliability of income is determined by the availability of jobs and the tenant segment that your property attracts.Inflation CompensationIn order to have the additional dollars you will need to pay inflated prices, rents must keep pace with inflation.