The region's young population and growing economic opportunities contribute to high occupancy rates, typically ranging from 90% to 97% year-round.

I think the only region left in the US that fits this mold is the Midwest. 

That said, long-term the appreciation you get in the Puget Sound region is superior to many other markets, so assuming you find an excellent property management company that is able to screen tenants and only put in very well qualified, vetted occupants and you experience limited issues over the holding period, you'd likely come out ahead retaining the Mill Creek property if your financially able to do so and still buy wherever you are headed out of state.

The HELOC is not the same as a conventional loan so they don't have anything like mandatory escrow accounts.When you say non-owner occupied, if you can get a HELOC on investment property, and I know Regions Bank does this because I went through them to get mine and found they will do a HELOC on investment properties, then you would be paying the investment off with the equity via a HELOC.

I do know that some regions of the US are really popular on the BiggerPockets forum for rental investments, and Columbus seems to be one of them.

@Lance Neighbors wondering if the new casino will change things.

You might find this 20 minute read and breakdown of supply, demand, interest rates, and relative regional pressures on multifamily https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/multifamily-crash-to-cont...

* very easy to file appeal and not too hard to get assessments corrected here compared to other regions?

For those examples, I'm speaking of the National and big regional builders like Pulte, Lennar, DR Horton etc.

While not as dynamic as the post-pandemic boom, key indicators suggest positive momentum is building.Vacancy Rates and Demand: U.S. multifamily vacancy rates declined for the first time since 2021, with the Sunbelt region leading demand.