Things like return you are looking for, price you are looking to spend, your goals and objectives with this investment should all come into play in helping narrow down your search.  

The online platforms are just the newer shiny, bright objects putting the business in the spotlight.

I recently started a reel series "House Hacking in Austin" where I highlight my favorite (and objectively the best real estate investing strategy) house hacking to share different ways people are making it work in an increasingly expensive city.Looking to connect with any and all house hackers in Austin! 

Consider factors such as supply and demand, rental rates, vacancy rates, and job market trends in order to determine if these cities meet your investment objectives.

@Sang  Yu good credit and good income, my question, is can you save money, just objectively tying to help solve your problem,  if your looking to buy more houses, each payday what happens to that "good money" ?  

But when you look back on a portfolio, the most important thing is not how much you paid for it years ago, it is the quality (and also the quantity) of your portfolio.

@Alecia Downing It depends on your objectives and criteria but I typically recommend market with with affordable prices and growing populations, jobs, strong income and modern/diverse economies and industies.

@Kevin Luttrell I agree with others that CA isn’t a bad place to invest if you have long term objectives.

My objection to cash for keys lies in the precedent that is set if a person is in the rental business, and it also bothers me morally to pay some scumbag for stealing!!!

These meet ups with names that do not imply primary purpose is to network/socialize typically have an agenda and guest speakers who are “experts” on the subject being presented. nothing wrong with networking with inexperienced RE investors but if you want a different type of meetup, attend meetups that do not have as their primary objective to network. good luck and maybe I will see you at a local RE meet up.