I believe Texas is the best state on earth to invest. 

.  ;-)  The south is rampant with foundation problems due to the water content of the earth/ground.  

You can try diatomaceous earth (aka DE).

And its far easier to do this today with Google earth than it was in my day.

I started checking my applicants out on google earth as well.

Why on earth would you sign a 4 year lease!

Then if you don’t make any earth shattering changes to it it will still hold up in a court of law.

I know what people will say "why on earth would that person rent?"

FHFI and other HPIs report the same. all publicly available economic data. not sure why on earth you thought SF did better.

You can do some more research on the area, See what the job market is like down there, use google earth to view the streets down there, check the quality of schools in the area, See how many major businesses are in the area.