Also:-Fastest growing city in the US last year (population)-5th largest city in the US-Still very affordable cost of living-7.7% rent growth last 12 monthsHere's a recent good article about Phoenix.I'd ask, how often do you plan to visit the market anyways?

@Christopher Sineno @Gordon Starr Can you give some reasons why Dayton's population has been in decline since 1960?

I've finished my research at theMSA level and chosen Columbus, OH as the market I first want to enter for various reasons; primarily budget, price-to-rent ratios, population growth, job growth, job diversification, etc.As I begin myresearch at the submarket level, I'm first looking to get a lay of the land ofthe different neighborhoods and ultimately map the city with"A"-"D" grades for each neighborhood.

I know the population/job growth is strong and I know the area well as well as rent ranges, etc… So investing out of town is…well… scary to me.My wife and I are also at a point right now where a major drop in income would hurt our current path of paying down debts and cards built up over years of life stuff.So all this being said, what would you all do in this position?

If you aren't limiting you population then facebook marketplace, zillow and craigslist are effective.

This property is in the city limits of Mobile AL which has a metro population of 500000.

Significantly more housing units must be added to better meet demand before the market eventually resolves the extreme supply-demand imbalance in a manner that potentially none of the stakeholders prefer.The US population increased through the recent recession, but housing starts plummeted and have been lagging ever since (see below). 

The city was 392k in population in 1984. 

They got pushed elsewhere along with a huge population of older people that just didn’t have the time and energy to rebuild so they took their insurance check and left.

Areas like Indianapolis, Columbus, and Cincinnati are all great cities to invest in because these cities are all growing in population, have investor friendly laws, and will allow you to purchase potentially 2-4 homes depending on how you leverage your money.