I agree that real estate is hyper local but demographics trends tend to be in bigger swaths.

Housing pricing to rent ratios aren't so favorable where I live for this kind of investing.A little about me aside from investing; I'm an analyst for a consumer packaged goods company (spreadsheets, statistical analysis, market studies and economic trends are my daily routine.)

Just like any big city, things can change from street to street. so get educated on the trends and then jump in.

Ride the trend of growth.

It sounds corny but I’m learning it’s a little more of an art than a science and determining whether or not a property is a good value comes mostly from experience and looking at it in it’s entirety: location, condition/ construction quality, tenant base and overall rental market trends, cash on cash return, IRR etc. are all equally important or perhaps more important than initial rent to price ratio.  

You can then see trending if road is decreasing cars per day, the same, or increasing and by what percent.

If your goal is to become an agent who has an occasional investment, then you should trend towards the more traditional model brokerages.

The trend is about to swing back to SF again since everybody and their cousin is trying to get MF.

Between $925-$975/month with a 2% increase year over year if the market continues to trend upwards the way it has.  

You need to find out the following to best predict how your property will perform in a down turn.Historical occupancy ratesHistorical rent ratesIs rent trending up or downPopulation growthJob growthJob diversity ( make sure the majoroty jobs in your are not held by one employer or on industry.)