I am also interested to see if the Link Light Rail extension will actually happen.

Those things should be considered after you select your niche and market area.  

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So, I understand that you shouldn't count on appreciation when valuing a property for investment purposes, but I'm wondering if anyone has done extensive research and attempted to project the value of SFHs in rural areas, but especially Appalachia?

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Hopefully you have an extensive real estate background with a proven track record of wholesaling.  

That way it saves us all a bunch of competition.But if you can survive... keep hope alive and work hard... then you will be one of the select few who can say "I made it in Real Estate!"

After a couple months of searching I found a few deals through the MLS that were decent with the financial #s even if they fell more into the $30k PIGS that some of you talk about (I disagree to a certain extent on the $30k homes being PIGS if you know what your doing and become selective on the deals you get involved in) & made some offers....after some back and forth on things I eventually settled on a home that needed rehab.  

Details on each of the process steps.Appreciation - The number one location selection criteria is appreciation.

We chose these locations due to convenience for self management and house hacking (local or where we have extensive networks) not because they were necessarily the most lucrative markets.