I want to put in 5 percent down on a single family house in metro Atlanta .  

The result will be a short list of potential investment locations for further consideration.Cities with a metro population >1M: Small towns may rely too much on a single business or market segment.

With a 1-BR condo, the appreciation lags well behind SFH's, but over the long term there's no way it will lose value -- it's near hotels, a major bar/restaurant destination, good schools, and a station that serves the city's best Metro line.

Here’s our OPINION for the Metro Detroit market (use as a template for your target area!)

I'd recommend researching areas to see that they have:- Low unemployment- High demand for housing - relatively low inventory- local job creation/booming local economy- high avg/median income- increasing population- low average days-on-market (DOM)- history of rent and property value increases YOY- low crime- highly-rated schools (or above average)I'd compare the target neighborhood to surrounding neighborhoods and/or nearest metro areas. 

I'm from California but now live and invest in the Denver metro, Colorado area!

@Billy Farley we manage almost 700 doors in Metro Detroit, about 300 in City of Detroit, almost 100 S8 leases.So, PM us if you'd like to chat about S8:)

So I'm thinking in terms of researching the long-term prospects for particular metros.

But having worked for one of the larger syndicators with about 13k units under management, all in suburban areas of the major metros in SE, the one beds typically did NOT see any noticeable lower occupancy rates than the twos or threes.  

@Jared FisherMost metro areas can be attractive for mid-term rentals.