It's not crowded, it's so cheap, and it's charming! 

Please note: I didn't even hit the tip of the iceberg of why mutual funds are quite possibly the worst investments on a risk/reward basis.

It's probably time you BOTH became a bit more financial savvy regarding the risk/reward options available in this (still) low interest rate era eg.

I have little experience with notes, but this seems like high risk, for not much reward.  

How come only NorCal gets to reap the rewards?

No different than any other corporation in the US that pays the CEO more than the production worker, and financially rewards the companies who sell the most.

Yes, real estate investing can be incredibly rewarding.

Investing out of state brings additional risk but the rewards are also much better.

Lots of positive activity downtown, however we just do not have the charm/pull of a place like KC, OKC etc so I think there will be somewhat of a ceiling to where it goes in the next few years, but one thing I do like is that if you go down there on a nice day/evenings or early at night, there is significantly more foot traffic and activity than there was a few years ago, so you can see the effects of more folks living in/using the area.  

I'll echo that most of these Midwest markets that skew toward lower purchase prices are similar.Areas can be hit-or-miss and you need to really understand the risks and potential rewards before making the plunge.