This led to a recession.Now, oil is doing something different. 

@Ryan KnutsonHi Ryan,Very good questions, I will first say that coming from someone that never wanted to own a PM company but being an airline pilot and the after effects of 9/11 led me down the investing path which took me to creating my own PM company for my personal portfolio to managing almost 1,000 properties in Texas. 

The investor market here bottomed out after the 2008 crash, but led by downtown revitalization efforts and strong demand from NJ/NYC investors, purchase prices keep going up and inventory remains at all time low levels.I've taken a look at expanding into other geographic areas.

It led us to more trainings and ultimately found a very good mentor in Dallas who is helping us with marketing. 

What were the market forces at play that led to those metro areas that for a long time were slow-appreciating/good cash flow areas, to a sudden boom of appreciation?

@Guy Gimenez,We joined REINC and we attended a meeting yesterday led by Andrew and Linda.  

In the meantime, I'm back to exploring REI as a potential source of income, which in turn led me to the already incredibly helpful BP podcast and community.

Hello BPConsider myself newbie, I flipped an apartment unit by accident  which changed my thoughts  and led here at bigger pockets.

I come from the construction world, project management and fabrication mostly, and am kind of obsessed with efficiency in all my dealings, from solar LED lighting to seamless showings and leasing.  

If you want the integrated anonymous lead capture system and some really slick designs, MP is an amazing option and led by a great team of guys.