If there are demographic reasons for the "appreciation" in recent years, then we might expect some real gains to be made in the future. 

Look at the comps, market rent figures, neighborhood demographics.

Analyze demographic trends, population growth, and demand for housing to ensure you're investing in an area with potential for long-term appreciation.Networking and Local Connections:Building a network of professionals and like-minded individuals in your target areas can be invaluable.

Buying a home is no different, and in fact, it warrants even more rigorous research.You’ll want to research the current real estate market, trends, investment type, available properties, neighborhood demographics, pricing trends, repairs, and other costs for the deal.

I have heard horror stories about short sales, but see a lot of them in my demographic that could bring in a great cash flow if I decided to make the move.

One thing I would recommend, rather than getting a storage consultant which no doubt wont be cheap any reputable commercial brokerage shop (certainly all the big shops) will be able to provide all relevant demographic data within any desired distance as well as traffic counts and any other number of data sets.

Indy is not only a good cash flow market but has strong economic and demographic fundamentals such as growing population, jobs and  modern, diverse industry whereas St Louis and Birmingham are pretty stagnant.

There's a lot of things that make Indy a good market including good cash flow, strong economic and demographic trends and Indiana is a landlord friendly state.

Plenty of homes below the nationwide median and favorable demographics and migration patterns.

and I think there are plenty of people out there willing to risk it at the moment considering Denver's strong growth and demographics.