Hi @Rita SamaddarI recommend areas based on three things:Budget: Knowing your cash to close helps me suggest the best areas, especially if you're using a hard money loan.Rehab Level: Whether you prefer low or major rehab impacts the neighborhoods I'll recommend.Market Dynamics: Areas with minimal days on market are ideal, as they predict how quickly your property will sell post-rehab.In conclusion, start with how much you have to work with and the level of rehab you're comfortable with to find the best areas for fix and flip.

It's a European company coming to the US market.

(From there find an agency that specializes in the type of project you are looking for, set up Zillow alerts and watch- understand the market you are diving into so you can spot a deal, a good agent should do this for you too!)

My wife and I are interested in expanding to help bump up our cash flow to help at least one of us exit our current W2 jobs but are hesitant to do so given the current market climate. 

In my market, if I do not remove contingencies or change the standard agreement I have 17 days to pull out for whatever reason I desire.  

Would you caution new investors away from these types of markets?

It’s a part of the state many investors stay away from because they don’t know the market, if you’re from the area and know it well this could be advantage for you!

I used it to purchase an off market deal and am about to refinance to pay it off and pull out equity (550K total). 

If you want to work with investors I would invest into cold calling to find deals and then sell them off market to investors.

What ever I can about the real estate market in NZ to be able to understand advavntages, disadvantages, know where to find information and so on.