Not an expert on this, but a few things to Consider:Population Growth, Job Growth, Purchase Price, Price to Rent ratio, Landlord Laws. 

I feel like you should definitely still be looking for growth, but also that you should be looking to diversify as well so you protect the nest egg.

I use local banks for all my deals (big or small) they are much more flexible and want to encourage local growth vs. a big bank who doesn't give two flying flips about the city/town they are located in.

Once you have this team in place, you should be able to confidently invest in any market.As for picking a specific market - I would go after one with an increasing job and population growth.

@Julie Hartman Hi Julie, that makes sense with the job growth.

We like the area, and believe it has more room for growth and improvement (although we are not depending on that).

As a result, there is a high demand for student housing and low supply as the University does what they can to accommodate the growth.

@Chad U. says he filters by state:   is that to sort by judicial versus non-judicial jurisdictions, growth versus low-growth areas or some other metric?

The level of demand and growth for the Austin area truly cannot be emphasized enough.  

Despite the Nashville growth, my goal is a Short Term Rental 1-2 hrs east of town essentially between Nashville and Chattanooga (Sparta, Spencer, McMinnville, Smithville, Woodbury).