You'll also have to consider what assets you guys own individually versus as tenants by the entireties.

@Sarah BuchananI do not want to start a cash flow versus appreciation debate (there are already enough of those) so I will not refer to appreciation but value add.I purchase RE in hopes to have a near term >100% ROI due to value add. 

As crazy as it is to see Philly on the list twice, the crazier part is how much room there still is for improvement.  

Houston Real Estate Highlights for December and Full-Year 2018 Despite uncertainties amid Houston’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Harvey, 2018 proved to be a record year for Houston home sales with 82,177 single-family homes sold versus 79,143 in 2017, the last record-setting year.

You can invest with Real Estate Investment Company versus doing it yourself. 

In terms of being active versus passive, it is really up to you to decide how much time you can devote to real estate investing. 

We'll keep the property in the family and use it as a rental, with capital improvements along the way.

Appraiser will of course see your purchase price and treat it as a data point, best way to overcome that is to hand him a before/after binder that includes all improvements you've done to the property etc. 

The one that I'm sure I have a lot to improve on is managing contractors. 

We can also buy a house brand 4/2 2000 sq ft from builder for $700 or $150k versus $3000 a month here in DFW or California lite as I call it!