If #1 on your list is safety I would also recommend looking north a bit, somewhere like Worthington. 

@Jared Maches Bridgeport, East Windsor, North Haven, Bristol, New Britain seem to have strong demand. 

We've had it rented since we bought it.We just bought larger properties in North Myrtle Beach, an single 8br oceanfront, and a duplex 2nd row with 7br in each, in January and have been kicked in the tenders with the shutdown. 

if you had to choose the top 3 cities in North Carolina that could possibly be the next “Raleigh”, what cities would y’all choose that could be it in the next 5-10 years?

The further North you are of Puritan the better, the closer you are to Livernois the better - basically the North/East corner of that area... the rest is still crap and will be for awhile.  

Outside of the immediate National Harbor space there are some great SFH oppurtunities in Oxon Hill/Forest Heights/North of Waldorf

If you want to stick to nice areas with lower crime, try ooltewah / collegedale area, or anywhere on the north shore.

My goal here is to start a conversation about buying, selling, and investing in Real Estate the Minot, North Dakota area.

It's 15 minutes north of Coffeeville. 

Cash is not really a problem if it is coming from HK and done by bank transfer.Plano is a nice clean city for the most part, many investors though looking north of there, where there will be new growth.