If you really want to learn more about how our real estate markets work, what signs they throw off, and how to read those signs then read Robert Shiller's book Irrational Exhuberance (most recent edition).Here's his take on this very topic taken from an interview several weeks ago:We think that we are headed toward another 2008-like crisis.

It has been gentrifying for a while and prices rose from around $100/sq ft during the crisis. $200-$250 sq ft is not unusual, depending on condition.

Her whole family is still rooted there (refusing to leave even throughout this whole water crisis situation) and she's got a team of family and lifelong friends--everything from contractors and a property manager to real estate agents.  

As we learned in the financial crisis, the ratings services give their stamp of approval to any client willing to pay their fees.The ideal situation would be to get personal guarantees from the tenants or put liens on their houses, boats, and other assets.

In terms of which to go with I think some pros for condos is lower cost of capital as a barrier to entry, lower cost means lower risk on your first deal, most condos include heat and hot water with the fee and that results in a less complex assignment to you as the property manager (assuming you will manage your own), I think condos fell hard and fast in the crisis and are an asset that may outperform early in this recovery (my speculation).Cons - condo fees destroy cash flow in my opinion, when I run numbers on condos those fees just kill the returns, HOAs and condo associations generally stink, there are adjustments where they can hit you up out of the blue for stuff like a new roof, that's a risk that could kill years of earnings out of nowhere.

That's a phrase I picked up while I worked at the FDIC during the economic crisis and was responsible for reviewing and resolving billions of dollars in failed bank assets. 

@Dave Meyer  I would like to help  mainly in what you guys need to do or look for to VETTE REAL lenders not all the fakes running around these days.. this is almost lender crisis mode for new investors who just don't know what they don't know and get taken for up front fees.

If the area was not affected by the 08 crisis, I'm not too sure about banking on solid appreciation there. 

Contracted a PM from afar and leased to likely the first applicant that could scribble their name on an application(neighborhood was saturated with rentals due to "crisis").All well and good for a few months then weird amounts of short rent start popping up - ie $724.39 where $1200 was rent.

I feel like it's a shell game or three-card monte that the city/county/state leadership is playing-"look over here at the 'housing crisis' not at policies that have actually exacerbated the problem"I totally agree in the short term that rents have softened (although I just finished a rehab in one of my rentals and went for $1,000/mo to $1,495 so I'm pretty happy there!!)