Prices will always be driven by demand and supply.

We built a portfolio in Oklahoa City due to great rental demand, good property prices and great cash flow.Well worth doing plenty of research on other markets.Good luck.Sara

Despite the fact that you'd think cities like Ankeny would demand a huge premium for housing prices, I've found that you can get a much nicer house in a much nicer neighborhood that's been built far more recently for $200,000 or so than what that same money can buy in Newton - and that's sort of peculiar to me.  

. :)  I definitely agree that starting out is hard. there are a lot of obstacles that seem to be in the way, and while most of them are in our heads and can be somewhat mitigated with education, others obstacles demand faith from others, which is harder to overcome without experience.   

Here demand is high, but there is not sufficient supply to meet this demand.

Well it's all about the demand. 

As we all know there is no shortage of that and the demand continues to stay high.  

The home is a HomePath property, however, due to demand in the area, we had to purchase closer to the top of our budget, such that we could not include any renovation costs.

My thoughts are that better areas =better schools= better long term tenants and a higher demand.  

If I had more time/a less demanding schedule, it would be worth it b/c it would enable me to more accurately estimate my rehab costs and justify my offer price.