We have a large chunk of money sitting in our high yield savings doing nothing that we would like to invest in real estate. We are looking for two properties to start- a multi-family and a single family home to get our feet wet.

We have a large family in southern Minnesota (in laws) so it feels like the best first place to invest out of state because of the connections and boots on the ground. Additionally, we have some out of work family members we’d love to support with work, rather than gifting cash. We live in San Diego so besides holding our personal house, we aren’t interested in competing in this expensive market despite all of my connections in this market.

Does anyone have any suggestions on cities/neighborhoods to focus on in southern Minnesota? Or any general guidance on investing that is Minnesota focused would be highly appreciated.