I have my rough formula, but I still haven't determined w/confidence one that I can apply across the market to determine where to invest... yet.for now, some of the factors i gauge (in no order) are:(flipping)median incomemedian household size (kinda)median home sales for the hh size i'm targetingproximity to major work areas (i.e., corporate, factory, etc.)unemployment rate & trendschool statsowner/renter ratioprice-rent ratio(rental)prox to major work areasrental rate for a 2brue rate/trendin my first attempt to determine "best bang for the buck" for rentals, i took national statistics and crunched them into a spreadsheet. this thread discusses similar to "selecting a place to invest" topic: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/432/topics/72764?

Daniel Sanchez apartments/condominiums.

In my opinion, the HOA fees and regulations make it very difficult to successfully invest in condominiums.

But I have friends such as @Andrew Michael who invest there.Median household income there is like $35k.

Update: If you just happen to be in Birmingham, AL, the condos are Woodside Condominiums on Shadowood Circle in Centerpoint.

If you make it through the wall of text that follows, and you have even the smallest insight to offer, I would so very much appreciate it.My wife and I are rapidly learning the ways of wise REI through the help of the BP forums, podcast, books, as well as attending local REIA meetings, networking, market research, and driving for dollars.We've arrived at what I feel is a major pivot point in our lives, and are struggling with the multitude of circumstances life is throwing our way, trying to figure it all out, and set some reasonable goals so that we can move forward in a clear defined direction.I'm going to lay it all out in brutal detail in hopes that someone can make any sense of this and possibly offer some guidance.OUR CURRENT STATUS:I have a day job as an engineer, a freelance business on the side in which I design products for clients around the country, as well as a fading IOS app development company.My wife has a small house cleaning business, and she takes care of all the household management, as well as just being assigned as power of attorney over her Grandfather's estate.We have zero savings, but are on track to be completely debt free in two years on our current plan.

I've been looking at FHA and USDA, aware that you cannot own any other home when using USDA, and USDA cannot be used for an income-producing purpose (also has household income limits per household size but amounts vary per county). 

Max Householder Yep, I did that too and used Craigslist.

The critical provision is: The Jim Brooks Act would require landlords to submit copies of all rent-increase and eviction notices to the city within 48 hoursafter the notices are delivered to a tenant household.

condominiums are for residential living only, and many condo associations limit the number (or percentage of units) of rentals in the association, and the minimum rental time periods.