@Scott Lang southeast us in a good metro

Overall, that rural area southeast of Troy is good for buyers/renters looking to live in the country but still be within striking distance of Troy or Albany, but I'd probably pick N.

Perhaps the reason is that Californians can tolerate dry heat, but they dislike the humid weather that is prevalent in the south east?

I own a few vacation rentals in Southeast North Carolina and I plan to buy a few more in the coming years. 

I live in Southeast Michigan and my SFR is back home in Upstate NY.

I just sold one of my homes I built 3 years ago in a subdivision that was built 6 years ago and has no street tree's.. and this buyer is scoping the sewer, I think that's a little over kill .when I was buying all my rentals in the south and south east if the home was older say 20 years or more.

My name is Tommy Desmond, I'm a real estate investor and agent in southeast Michigan (THE DREADED DETROIT!).

Don't build a MHP - especially in the Southeast.  

More likely I'll focus somewhere in the southeast because I have family there.

While there really isn't much corporate employment in the area it is supported by larger cities in the southeast like Charlotte, Atlanta, Raleigh and basically anywhere southeast of us.