I look for areas near good transportation options.

The Vallejo Ferry, as part of the Bay Area-wide Water Emergency Transportation Authority system, is doing so well, officials are finding it challenging to keep up, they said.

However anyone owning a building near public transportation will be ahead of the game while the suburbs are going to dry up only bc im the only person I know who wants to own a nice big house with a yard and the red neck in me will build a bigger garage in the back but most of these young people who don't want to buy they all want to rent so they aren't tied down and can travel and than live down town with a short commute to work...Everyone has there own opinion but me I think that an out of the money call option on apple would be a better value than an 800k townhouse in some ex industrial area of Jersey or wherever it was because I already know the places with the good school districts and easy commute to nyc they were over built 10 years before I was even born so basically if you can afford it buy where you KNOW it is desirable AND If not it is a gamble at this point.

I recently helped my parents move from the suburbs back into Boston (Jamaica Plain) so that they're both closer to work, their doctors, supermarkets, as well as no longer dependant on a car with access to fairly good transportation options (Orange Line) as their reflexes and need for busy days start to slow.When my parents moved into the house that I helped them buy, we ended up starting to learn about being a landlord when renting out their house in the suburbs.  

It's a good bet that the places that saw the biggest declines will still be the weakest come the next market decline unless they've had some major changes (neighborhood revitalization, new public transportation options, etc).  

"You can never go wrong with five" a seasoned transportation broker once told me. 

Could still be profitable if "blow-up" happened annually, which appears very unlikely.Desirable area near public transport & 1 block from Lake Merritt in OaklandNow let's talk numbers..MonthlyOwner rents units to me at: $1,000I rent them out at market: $1,600Gross Spread $600Vacancy Allowance from owner $42Total Monthly Gross $642Actual Vacancy $133Other turn costs $42Net Profit per Unit/mo $467# of units 3Total Cash Flow $1,400.00 /moThat pencils out to just under $17K net annually to me if there are just regular turnover costs, without any "blow-ups" like drawn-out evictions, significant damage, etc., which I would expect to be rare, given the tenant I believe I can pull due to the desirability of the area.

Our City is small enough that I can cover most of it, and all of the downtown core, comfortable on my daily run or when transporting the toddler to and from day care by bike {Yes, event this time of year when the temperatures are not too low ....

It's a great tree-lined street, very close to 3 options of public transportation, and 3 blocks from a park.

And I've always thought, isn't electricity the easiest to generate through alternate means, and to transport/store/use?