That place is booming and at some point was on one the "best places to live" lists.

Sadly I am just now seeing that degrees won't lead to financial security, which is why I am shifting gears into entrepreneurship.I am in beautiful San Marcos, Texas, the area is booming and would like to take advantage of real estate opportunities.

There used to be beautiful estates in Buffalo when it was a booming town. 

The Triangle has so many booming businesses and universities, you'd have a lot of options for renters with people constantly moving in and out.Have you had a chance to look at potential rent comps in the Durham area?

If someone has ample free time to go back and look through posts about Denver or other cities that have seen a huge growth boom in the last 30 years they can validate the claim I'm about to make... 

I do not understand why Cleveland is booming.

As we can see many Northeast state are still under water after 10 year of real estate boom, whereas RE in South and West is more than double from 2008 low.Right now people are making money in all market but considering downturn sometime in future, I feel these market are safe bet based on population growth expectation.

No one has a crystal ball, but the climate, tech, and tourism industry boom would lead to continued price growth over long period is what I suspect.  

The housing market will definitely crash just as it will boom.

I know the market in my area has picked up slightly but it's not necessarily the boom and bust type of market like many of the Atlantic and Pacific coastal cities.