Big city or small city

[Ben Lin]

Hello everyone. If you had lets say 2M to invest, would you buy a rental property (maybe a fourplex or a six units building) in big and mature cities like SF, LA, Brooklyn, or you'd buy several single family homes in cities like Huntsville, Gainesville, Cape Coral (or any small city)? I know about appreciation VS cash flow, but I'd be interested to hear your personal choice and why? My investing brain is looking for the next Austin while collecting rent for a few years (LOL who doesnt), but my ego is looking to buy a nice building in big cities like LA or SF. Would love to hear from you guys! 

[Taylor L.]

I'll take a growing city in the southeast any day. Look for job growth, population growth, economic diversity, and friendly regulations. Go with multiple units in one place and hire a professional property manager to run the day to day.

You don't need to pick the next boomtown to make a nice return in real estate. Matter of fact, you can do much better by finding underperforming assets in good markets and bringing them up to market. Force appreciation and grow your cash flows.