I believe many/most of the RE investors starting today will not achieve a better return than the S&P 500 and are likely to exit RE investing in less than 10 years.Therefore, I am in the camp that most young investors would be better off investing in stocks, ideally using a ROTH, rather than enter a very competitive RE market that has shrunk cap rates in most markets that have any historical appreciation.

I'm a former real estate attorney who previously worked with investors on flips involving affordable housing and historic preservation tax credits, so I think I understand enough to be helpful.

I currently own a property in a historic district and was planning on selling the HTC's to pay for renovations.

The house is in our Historic District just a block from downtown.

You mentioned, city-data, below are a a few others I've used:bestplaces.net - median home value and vacancy niche.comareaviabe.comEconomic development office for your metro census.gov "selected housing characteristics" will give historical vacancy ratesPopulation growth and some of the other attributes can simply be googled.All this is good info, but the next step of talking to realtors, prop managers, wholesalers, investors and actual boots on the grounds will help get you the specifics you'll need to really know an area.  

If, in the likely event, your personal financials will allow for a conventional loan and you're fine with the 25% down then it's going to give you a lower, and locked, rate over the life of the loan.I would personally get conventional loans while the rates are historically low and while you have room for them (you'll be capped at a number, I believe being 10 per spouse if you are both earning). 

Historically it has produced better return than current owner occupied conventional home loan + PMI.  

You definitely want to see how the property has performed historically. 

But my flip was priced right and also listed in the spring which is ideal.Now for the house itself - the buyers in Murray Hill who are paying the most are looking for very specific things - basically a charming unique historic home for what is a bargain price compared to nearby Riverside/Avondale neighborhood.

I won't be investing in the riskiest/most supportable asset subclasses such as hotels, and tilt my portfolio the ones that have historically been more stable such as multifamily and single-family housing.