I've literally seen gas stations sold, demolished, and the land built into multiple stories of luxe condos.

Better yet, you will have the silver line metro that is already running from that area but will be opening more stations.

I think, combined with the VA loans, our service men and women have an amazing opportunity to build wealth while being stationed here and there across the nation.   

If your looking for quick and easy living, including stores and commuting to JC or NYC (without buses), then stick to any of the light rail station stops on the east side. 

....keep in mind I am military stationed overseas right now!

I have been looking for properties in College Station/Bryan area purely as investment, but have decided to make a shift and move to Austin.

Parents found it wile I was stationed in Coronado CA.

I'm stationed here in Norfolk, VA.

We manage it ourselves now that we live in the area (although we’ve used property management when stationed outside the DC area) and have had a good experience with this buy-and-hold rental.I’m not planning to purchase additional properties in the near term, but would like to continue learning in preparation for expanding our real estate portfolio once I retire from the military in about 5 yrs (probably not in the DC area).  

Some interesting things going on with the downtown Lancaster redevelopment, and is close to the metro station ... still a fairly rough area but may be some serious upside if you can wait it out and handle it in the meantime.