If you're in San Antonio and you want something stable my suggestion is always to look near one of the military bases.

I am 32 and expect to be living off my rentals long before retirement age, and it would make things a lot easier to have access to the cash. 

The owner was an older couple, son of original owner, and they were ready to liquidate their rentals and retire.

This shows up in different investments like Mutual Funds, Insurance Plans, and Retirement Accounts.

My suggestion is to stick with the midwest.... prices are more stable and cash flow can be great.

If you put a lot money into that ROTH 401k platform early on you will be able to utilize it as your cash reserves for real estate investing, and also have the security of knowing that your retirement is taken care of.

Where I live in NYC is also close to schools and institutions, so rent is pretty stable, neither skyrocketed with other fancy neighborhoods nor nosediving when the economy took a hit in general.

Fair Market Value.Then live in the fully paid off house forever (with just taxes to pay).Then save up your income to make investments--you will have a stable life at that point--unless you go through a Divorce and judge decides you need to be financially ruined....

Similarly, we will continue to accept multifamily loan applications but will only fund these loans on a case-by-case basis as the market appetite for these loans is changing too rapidly to have any stable guideline changes.

My wife and I are retired and the rentals are what puts food on the table for us.