We built a single family home version of a 2 bed 1 bath with surface parking at cost with no profit all in with land for 175k in newark ohio, a suburb of columbus ohio. when we push that to 3 units and closer to the city for our build to rent model the numbers go way better. a 30k slab for a single family home is 30k, a 30k slab for a triplex is 10k a door. we designed a 2 bed 1 bath design at 668 sq ft and it's very good layout even I would live there, but I would never build anything that small again. there's no economies of scale. you need density and shared lines, resources, shared roof shared slab, shared windows, etc the cost goes way down.

You can do the same to estimate rents for a midterm rental by going to the Furnished Finder stats page for your city.

@Jaycee Greene this is in Kansas City.

I’m a New York City native, but purchasing any type of real estate in this area is not realistic for me. 

well if I ever make it to the Smokies to see what the draw is  I will rent a condo then :)  I am just guess but I suspect folks that go there want to be in the woods and hear the birds and maybe some local mtn views etc.. or some sort of privacy they never get at home out east were there is not very much public lands close to where they live in the big city. ????

What are the best cities to invest in midterm rentals which will cash flow and appreciating year over year?

Verifying last 2 years of rental history and income extremely important to find the “best of the worst”.Make sure you understand the Class of properties you are looking at and the corresponding results to expect.The City of Detroit has 183 Neighborhoods we’ve analyzed.DM us if you’d like to discuss this logical approach in greater detail!

Quote from @Breland Clark: I would like to know more about developing land and subdivisions for new builds and apartment buildings. talk to the land development arms in your city or state.

Just thank your deity that you don’t live in a rent controlled city/state.

Thanks @Henry Lazerow, that is basically what we do in the city.