Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Especially in high priced markets were married couple gets that 500k tax free.. do that a few times in your life that will make you more money than most rentals at 200.00 a month cash flow.

Investment Info:Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

I could also ask him to provide a report from his business (he is self employed) of his P&L and transaction reports to make sure he is making money etc. 

They took a lot of money from me, is there any recourse?  

I am trying to get a loan to buy an investment property, and they have been contacting me, but I am not sure if it is worth going forward or not unless someone has already done business with them.

If you do it right e.g. always carry a reserve for repairs/vacancies, hire a GOOD property manager, keep the tenant happy by doing reasonable repairs, etc, then investing OOS is a great option to build wealth.Good luck and be sure to utilize the BP community if you need help down the road. 

is there a particular formula that takes all manner of factors, (employment growth, corporation development news, barrier to entry, rental rates, wage growth, etc) into account and spits out an "invest in city X" answer?

I'm just starting out and considering the following markets for a potential OOS investment property.

Getting people into the world of Real Estate investing is something I love sharing with everyone.