The truly tragic natural disasters in California, North Carolina, Florida and others of the past six months are evidence that no location is truly 'climate safe,' however there are geographical areas that can expect less weather extremes and lower costs of living, developing, insuring and seemingly...surviving. 

I'm trying to understand how they collect data so as to develop the best comping practices.

@Alicia Prokos (and anyone else in the same position) A 401k plan is a type of Qualified Retirement Plan, in which there are - at a minimum - 2 essential roles: Trustee and Administrator.Plan administrator – The person who is identified in the plan document as having responsibility for running the plan.Plan trustee – Someone who has the exclusive authority and discretion to manage and control the plan assets.In the overwhelming majority of plans, it is the business owner and/or the business entity adopting the plan that fill these roles.Companies that provide 401k administrative services are more aptly called "third-party administrators."

The analysis also reports that new multifamily development will “remain near the average recorded over the past five years”.Integra Realty Resources’ 2017 Commercial Real Estate Trends Report ranks Pittsburgh #2 on its Top Markets by Multifamily Transaction Volume Based on YoY Change.Pittsburgh’s rental vacancy rate has declined by 25% over the last five years.Pittsburgh is booming with developments (see reference #6), “there is no better place to be a developer right now than in Pittsburgh.

This reduces exit options and affects the value. 10) Small number of small units is the most expensive residential development there is.

We plan to share ownership of the property as I am going to invest my money into developing (building a Detached ADU in the back) and re-modeling the property so that we can collectively sell it for a profit.

Tools like PropStream, Redfin, or Zillow’s market data can help you identify neighborhoods with high demand and favorable price-to-ARV ratios.

I actually ended up going through a big career change, and attended a 6-month bootcamp to learn Software Development after 7 years cooking professionally in fine-dining kitchens. 

Contractors, unless you have a working relationship with them, normally do not want you bouncing ideas off them.Understand what their hourly rate is, have a discussion with them that you are okay with paying them an hourly rate if they walk the property with you and provide you a scope of work along with an explanation of what you can/can't get away with in regards to improvements.ask them if you go with them, if they can credit you the amount that you paid.Once you develop a working relationship with a few contractors, you can bounce ideas off them and expect quality responses.I do not invest in New York.Best of luck. 

lat=43.1688001618486&lon=-77.6159378282709 I’d also suggest considering whether you live or work nearby, so you can stay informed about any developments.