I've done everything you can in the front of house from bussing to managing in restaurants ranging from casual to luxury fine dining.

You can just go "eh can't find any oh well" or "hmmm let's just use this real house on 5 acres as a comp," but appraisers do not have that luxury.

The one area that's having trouble is the high-end luxury market.

I didn't filter by price point, so the following stats will likely be different if you take out luxury housing.  

.- I'm thinking 20% down to keep the mortgage reasonable.Right now, i'm focused on Woodbridge as I think that community, with the good schools, lake, parks, and luxury properties in the middle, might be a very safe place to invest.Anyways, if anyone knows a:- A good broker/agent who can not only help me find a good deal but won't mind answering questions and helping me understand the market better (to sharpen my investor skills)- A good area in Irvine to buy- Any good metrics to focus on (ie. $390 sq ft is too high..)- Info on how the markets changed recently, where it appears to be headed- How much I can get renting out 2bd / 2ba in Irvine (just in case..)- And how HOAs have changed over the years and what I can expect in the future (esp if I end up wanting to rent out the property)No problem sending me a PM or Colleague request if you prefer to respond one-on-one.As always, I appreciate all the feedback from the BP Community.

The luxury I have is that my former employer has a program that awards full scholarships of 20k per year to ex employees to pursue graduate degrees in any field of choice.

There are a lot of factors to this question as Philadelphia metro is very diverse and it would matter what type of renting you plan to do.I can speak to the areas I invest in (Olde Kensington/Fishtown/No Libs/Port Richmond) where there have been quite a number of large ‘luxury’ apartments built or being built in the last couple years.

You also have a higher loan limit, and can wrap "luxury" renovations into the loan (aka, putting in a Sauna or something).

The home is a few blocks from a University, in a sought out area(far from luxury, just great location).  

Unfortunately, you don't have that luxury.