San Pedro, I got the impression that the police let them do whatever they like, and they were drunk and hostile, at least back then in that neighborhood; was not so west of Gaffey, though ... probably not PC, but that was my honest observation.

If you live in the north, however, i think it's important to observe what happens during the snow melt.

Either way, those are my observations for at least the Northern VA part of the DC Metro Area and how I adapted my investing strategy around the area. 

You might have an easier time finding a good to great deal on a duplex but again this is just my observation. 

This is merely a suggestion based on my observations, but rental properties near a military base are a great investment.

I'm comparing the boring period from 1996 to roughly 2004 with the period roughly 2010 to present, observing based strictly on the charts that the boring period is a positive slope and the 2010 to present period is a flat slope, indicating to me that we have not " ... made it back to the trend line that was established early in the chart."  

Go to open houses and observe the list I laid out above.

I would offer a couple of observations.

A buried leech field is not obvious, you can't observe the use.

I am very interested in a career in real estate investing (obviously, I'm on biggerpockets).I humbly ask if a real estate investor in the Portland area would mind letting me just come along for the ride for any number of hours you'd be comfortable with during this week or next so I can observe your day-to-day investing activities.