*Most* of the time it is better to start off investing someplace you know intimately than picking cities out of a hat based on statistics you read on a screen. 

Appreciation is based on the $1M, not the $200K. 

Her office is based here out of Gainesvillle. 

Currently based in Madrid, Spain, I'm looking to invest in real estate in Miami.

I am new to real estate and based out of LA looking to learn more about out of state investing! 

But the overall ROI is based on the year.  

It seemed like they didn't have much data for my area, and looked like they were applying the same comps for the whole zip code, even though my area can vary a lot based on the sub-neighborhood. 

I will say your traditional long term rentals will be hard to pencil in this market, but a buy and hold play is still a tremendous opportunity with the housing shortage.

If you play it smart and invest in a "Primary Home" first by targeting a Multifamily 2-4 unit home.

Based on what I’m reading (2% rule, 50% rule), and the cost of property management companies; it seems better to just sell it for its current value of $550k and invest the equity.