Keep in mind that a lot of these projects have restrictions that do not allow use as a rental, so if that is the case be careful that you only have 1 exit option, and on top of that are restricted to the 55+ population (meaning a lot less potential buyers).

Real estate agents have a tremendous failure rate, at any time there is a significant portion of the Realtor population on their way into the business and generally an equal amount on their way out

Jobs and increased population drive local real estate and unique real estate plays.  

It just needs to have a diverse economy and a growing population.

It seems they work best in larger population areas, but recently I've seen some pop-up in smaller geographic areas that share characteristics with where I am - Bozeman, Montana.

It just needs a diverse economy and a growing population to support you in good ways.  

Big booms and busts based on fantasy and dreams.If you're saying it's speculation you'd be wrong in the sense that we're making purchases based on good market fundamentals (population consistency/growth, increasing development of the area, planned development like parks, etc)And within those fundamentally attractive areas, we try to find attractive properties that we negotiate great prices on.

Takes about three days to populate, but once it does, you generally get better people from zillow and trulia.  

I see new growth beginning in Elkhart and Goshen, but is Southwest Michigan (Berrien County) going to continue to lose population?  

They like to see certain population levels, higher median income, traffic count increases etc.Generally if an area is rural or far out suburban with limited growth those areas do not attract the national tenants.