I walked away from a successul 20-year career as an HR Director in Silicon Valley to do this full fime and I have nearly replaced my corporate income.

They built a few more in the Silicon forest.. but from my talks with the long range planner they dont want anymore of them.. they want facilities that will employee more folks.

As far as appreciation, I think a hot market in my area is San Jose which is close to Silicon Valley.

Silicon Valley is not rural Ohio is not east Los Angeles. 

I also attended the Real Estate Elevated, as others did (but here in Silicon Valley).  

According to the article in 2015 consumers lost ~$9 million from this fraud vs nearly half a billion dollars in 2022.A Silicon Valley executive had $400,000 stolen by cybercriminals while buying a home.

Just 218 miles from Silicon Valley, Reno benefits from its proximity to major economic hubs.

My choices would be if prices are no issue as in you can spend $1.2 million+ on a single family home: San Jose (10% appreciation historically, 44% in the last 3 years, link below), Santa Clara (both near Silicon Valley with major tech companies), San Mateo.

I have lived OOS (and know dozens from around the world many from Silicon Valley) for 10+ years and have a team in place.

I've had investments in Silicon Valley and Tri-Valley areas.