The rest of the city is buoyed by its tech and government sectors.

Manufacturing jobs are definitely a piece of the overall jobs pie in Columbus, but the sector represents a smaller portion of the overall jobs makeup in comparison to the rest of the US.

So I too want to downvote the reit suggestion...without you specifying one sector reit and saying what makes it particularly immune to the market.

@Kim ThrailkillIn your exampleCalifornia will require you to file a California resident tax return where you report worldwide income(including the rental income in Arizona).Arizona may require you to file an arizona non-resident tax return where you report the rental income on property located in Arizona.While you are reporting the income on both returns, California will provide you a credit for taxes paid to Arizona, which eliminates double-taxation.Ultimately, California has a higher state income tax than Arizona which means ultimately, you are going to pay taxes to California when you have positive rental income.The great thing about rental properties is that you can potentially have a tax loss while having positive cash-flow.

For as little as a $25 loan, you can help someone help themselves worldwide.

I just think there's a lot of opportunity in this sector.

Several CPAs (myself included) have clients nationwide and a couple even have clients world wide.  

Salaries must be within the range of what the average person would earn doing the same job in the private sector. 

@Lane Kawaoka I think these are great ideas, and I can't wait till technology finally catches up to the real estate sector.

There are other Midwestern cities who are growing the high tech job sector, but their growth rate isn't as high as Indianapolis' rate.