I am hoping to get into my first investment and rapidly grow my portfolio, perhaps even start an REI company.

I also feel like a lot of those numbers are skewed by new construction, which has vastly favored Hoboken/Jersey City/Weehawken, but less so the rest of the county.For what it's worth, home prices in 06/07 in this area were at what I think most would consider irrational levels: like, wouldn't make sense as an investment unless you were anticipating rapid appreciation or a rapid increase in rent prices (neither of which happened).

My business partner and I grew up in a small town in southwest Michigan centralized between Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, and Grand Rapids and always looked at the "big" cities as a place of unlimited opportunity. 

Has anyone had success investing/renting out SFR in the Wellington Heights neighborhood in Cedar Rapids?

This area is growing rapidly and lots of people need homes to live in so you'd be providing a much needed service, not to mention the potential cash flow and long term income and hopefully some nice appreciation.

If you do buy and hold try to find an area that's not rapidly developing.

But buyer's expect houses to maintain their values or even rapidly appreciation.

The nice thing about areas like that is that if you get in early and they do eventually change they can go up pretty rapidly.

Over the weekend a motivated seller found my name via google (I assume my BP profile came up) and wanted me to help them get out of their condo in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  

You will rapidly grow in your 20s, and so will your salary, but if you learn to live efficiently then it can be a great boon to your investing.Also, manage any student loan debt that you may have.