Northern cities like Cleveland that heavily relied on its geographic location for transporting goods are relatively flatlining in terms of population growth, while Texas, Florida, Arizona, and others are booming.The bottom line is that while real estate on a whole will follow inflation rates, individual properties can significantly underperform or outperform the average inflation rate. 

@Erin Estes you have good ideals but if you applied your logic to other commodities then the residents of AZ will not be getting too far without the transportation fuels shipped from other states.

I got a full insiders tour of the Oil patch or Oil sands.. it was way cool.. got to ride in those huge dump trucks sit in the excavating machine that scoops unbelievable amount of material per scoop only thing bigger that moves I think Is the transport machine for the Saturn rockets.the mines were open pit about 5 miles across with vernicle wall 150 feet or so.. and you could see the black tar lines... running through it.. but its really pretty basic they take the sand dump it in a HUGE centrifuge mix in some ( probably pretty nasty chem's ) and out comes the oil sludge that goes into the pipeline to be taken to refineries.

Section 8 has housing inspection to prevent such things.Also, proximity to the public transportation is no guarantee that the area will pick up.

Denver has a great transportation system and is centrally located.

Back in the day there was US Army Fort (Tejon) at the pass as this was a closely guarded transport area for Cali and there were banditos raiding the shipping.

Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs): Transit-oriented developments are mixed-use properties located within close proximity to transportation hubs.

If you're just starting out, I would watch all the videos listed here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Whole...On a 'zero budget', I would start out 'biking for dollars' (usually 'Driving for Dollars', but use whatever transportation you can use inexpensively) -- look for distressed properties, and knock on the door, see if you can talk with the owner/occupant (watch the above videos first, so you know what to talk with them about).

I've been told, as an example, to segment your market by quadrants while looking at crime, transportation, proximity to shopping/downtown areas, flood zones, etc. with relation to each quadrant and determine the best versus worst.

Those that took the information in the original post and implemented the type of strategies would have done very well over the last three years.Just for some background Context for those that might be reading this for the first time here is a little background on what I stated in the original post about San Antonio.San Antonio is a very diverse market with a transportation system that has made our city much different than any other.