Call surrounding apartment communities to see what they're renting for and occupancy rate.  

I also am looking to invest in some properties in the Birmingham and surrounding area to help build my net worth.

This is market dependent but oftentimes it is parents that pay and if their kid says this is where we HAVE to live, parents will pay it and not care if the surrounding market is cheaper. 

Question that I just realized I don't know the answer to:  When the property has back taxes due, is the property usually priced lower than the surrounding comps to bring the total investment to around market value for the investor (with the taxes included)?   

If i were in yall shoes, I would look into getting a HELOC on the property that is paid off and then using that cash to invest in the surrounding areas ( an hour or so radius from where yall are).

I'm new to investing in Indy and I'm currently evaluating Indianapolis (and surrounding) areas, primarily considering some sort of syndication rather than taking on deals by myself remotely.

I am primarily interested in the Wesley Chapel area but am open surrounding areas as well.  

While California has had some net migrations out of state, most of the migration patterns have been happening within the state with populations moving out of the dense urban areas into the tertiary markets & surrounding counties - as has been the case across the US. 

Property is in a gentrifying area bordering a desirable downtown and surrounded by new development.

However rents do tend to be lower here than in the surrounding areas