I came across some services that allow you to post on not just popular sites such as Zillow and Trulia, but also distribute your listing to the local MLS!  

@Chris May  sounds like the Dot.com bubble burst of 2000.... minor shock wave then make new highs... people at the start ups are probably not fueling the resi market in SF bay area to any great extent.. they will when they go public  LOLMy daughter is a controller at Intel.. what Intel did was willow out the chaff. they let the bottom 10% of their work force go and a lot of retirement  good thing for the company.. they had a lot of dead weight..

Yes, it's very popular with college kids who have rents paid by mom and/or dad!

But investing in a solid document could pay for its weight in gold.

These can be quite marketable as 1-4 units are considered residential and many popular loan programs are available, with lower down and 30 year amortization.

Anyway, some governments and merchants have started working together to revitalize cities and neighborhoods (appreciation), walking distance is becoming more popular (appreciation in small pockets), internet allows for more distance (unfettered) based jobs, unfettered jobs allows for more travel (airBNB and rental markets in higher demand), high unforgivable student debt suggests renting longer than previous generations. 

A couple of the more popular groups include "Real estate Investors Club" & "South Bay Real Estate Investment Club", to name a few.

The problem I see with apartments right now, at least those listed on the market, is that their popularity among investors is really at the peak...returns are as low as they've ever been, but interest rates are low and the returns are still way better than single-family rentals.

The podcasts are worth their weight in gold.

I also have in sites of a motivated seller of a single family property in Massachusetts on a popular lake surrounded by summer homes.