I am willing to go inland, IE or Riverside or at least away from coastal Socal, which is so hot and competitive... 

I'm a Realtor in Riverside & Orange Counties & I think I can provide some value here.1- In theory, you can work with different agents at the same time, so long as you have not signed an Exclusive Agency agreement with one. 

I would give areas like Madison and South Huntsville a couple more decades tops, after that the interesting places will be like the riverside community of Triana.Fun fact!

He called me this morning to tell me that the TV doesn't work @Kevin Pfeiffer and @Glen Fullerton I think because of how bad it looks right now, pretty much anything I do will make it look very attractive.Should have contractor bid later today or tomorrow.

For those Californians, I've looked at Riverside, Hemet, the Cochella Valley, Bakersfield but I don't see anything under $100k that rents for $1200+.

HI Cort,Most of my lending business it out in OC and debt to income ratios for many borrowers have really been stretched and this is in an area where many people have very good incomes comparative to other parts of the US too.Incomes are not going up as fast as home prices are and the only real thing that is keeping affordability in check are the mortgage rates.Assuming we dont veer off the track of full doc income/credit/assets we will eventually hit the glass ceiling in terms of qualification and the market will in theory not be able to absorb inventory at the pace it has been in the last 2-3 years when this ramp up started Jan - Mar 2013.If I were you I would look at the cash on cash returns on the equity and the risk of the asset in the market that its in (Indio) and figure out where to most efficiently position that equity to achieve your preference of return, safety, and ease of management.What I do recall is that riverside and San Bernardino counties got hit really hard back in 08-11'.

I wanted to add that in the Riverside, Ca area not just desert area but in the heart of the city there are many 150k deals to be had.  

Account Closed my wife and I flipped our home in Riverside, IL, which was a very comfortable place to live.

I don't have a recommendation, my focus is parts of Riverside County.

It is based on job growth and loss, fraud, etc.Rank City Annualized Home Price Appreciation1 Bakersfield CA -16.9% 2 Stockton CA -18.7% 3 Fresno CA -16.2% 4 Warren MI -7.1% 5 Grand Rapids MI -5.8% 6 Riverside CA -16.8% 7 Sacramento CA -15.1% 8 Detroit MI -0.8 9 McAllen TX 2.6% 10 Youngstown OH -9.6%Looks like it might be a buyer's market in California and Michigan this coming year.