I actually find many of my NYC colleagues make back return on their choice to rent because they live in places where their commute is extremely short, they have great services and stores nearby, and they feel safe walking the neighborhood.

Hi,I recently moved to Dallas metro area and just bought a rental property in a nearby town.

We attend the christening or first birthday party if invited.We give gift cards for the Holidays.We help decorate for the Holidays and contribute to community potlucks/BBQs (at our 8-plex).We have a "make it your own home" policy, whereby we give approval for a reasonable modification to the property, such as painting a room, changing out a light fixture, etc.We prepare a "move-in packet" which includes information to orient them to the property (property rules, utility contact information, change of address form, our contact information, etc. ) and also information about the neighborhood, such as a walking/trail map of the local area, chamber of commerce welcome information, a list of nearby amenities (including medical, shopping, restaurants, schools, parks), menus for local pizza delivery services, coupons for local businesses, etc.We prepare a "move-in gift" which consists of a bucket of our favorite cleaning supplies and a reusable shopping bag with starter supplies of paper products, a "Zip-It" hair snare for clearing sink drains, a toilet plunger, a cutting board, approved hanging devices (picture hooks), a door mat and a shoe tray.We supply light bulbs for all permanent light fixtures for the duration of the tenancy, including specialty bulbs for appliances and chandeliers.

There are a number of universities etc. nearby.

What we are stuck on is whether we should buy a house and live in it as we flip it, or if we should find a good real estate investment group nearby and take that route, to have extra income, then after a few months, buy a house to flip.

There is a lot of speculation about the bullet train station being constructed near by, but the issue with water, unemployment and crime there is to be considered.

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I guess one way of looking at "undervalued" is a seller who needs to sell at a price that is at a market value of some homes nearby, while comps show there are also several similar nearby houses that are selling for more.

I'm doing some fix and flips and just stock piling single family rentals when I can find  deals. 

It seems apparent to me that actually using it to pay down debt is counter productive, until you're ready to refinance if that's your objective.It makes more sense to me to save the cash flow (true cash flow, not vacancy/maint expense savings) in a stockpile to use it when an opportunity comes along, whether that looks like a new property or an opportunity to improve either financially or physically the existing state of a income producing property.The opportunity cost of something else coming a long is probably what I'm skirting around, but in my mind it makes sense to bring in a respect for time and opportunity to the equation.I also feel like something I extrapolated from Gary Keller's Millionaire Real Estate Investor is worth sharing for anyone reading for nuggets.