I’m looking for some advice from experienced investors on choosing my first market.

I live in Salt Lake County, Utah. I originally started saving for a down payment on my family’s first single-family home, but as I’ve gotten closer to that goal and started analyzing deals, I’ve realized that $50,000 to $60,000 may go a lot further for me as an investment outside of Utah.

A little background on me. For my W-2 job, I manage a 137-door townhome community and have been doing that for almost three years. I handle essentially all of the day-to-day property management and have been fortunate to learn a lot while operating a profitable property with somebody else’s money. We’ve hit 100% occupancy multiple times over the last few months.

I also have about 10 years of maintenance experience. I’m comfortable with turns, repairs, renovations, and a lot of the hands-on work involved with owning rentals. I’m also a licensed real estate agent here in Utah.

Basically, I feel like I’ve spent the last few years learning the operational side of this business, and now I want to start building something of my own.

My biggest question is WHERE.

I’d prefer my first investment to be relatively close to home, especially since I have the ability to do a lot of the maintenance and rehab myself if necessary. The problem is that Utah and most of the surrounding markets aren't particularly affordable. Colorado is generally more expensive. Idaho has become pretty similar to Utah. California isn't realistic for what I'm trying to do, and Nevada may have some possibilities.

That has pushed me farther east. Kansas has caught my attention because there are still properties in my price range, and although it's roughly a 14-hour drive, that's close enough that I could realistically get there when needed.

My current plan is to spend the next year analyzing deals and learning a few markets while I finish saving. By the time I'm ready to purchase, I expect to have around $50,000 to $60,000 available.

I’m primarily interested in small multifamily, especially duplexes, but I’m open to SFRs if the numbers make sense. I’d also like the property to work with professional property management included in my underwriting, even if I initially manage it myself.

So, if you were in my position, living in Utah with $50,000 to $60,000 to invest and about a year to prepare, what markets would you be studying?

Would you prioritize staying within driving distance, or would you be willing to go farther for a substantially better market?

And for anyone investing from Utah, where are you buying and what led you to that market?

I’m not necessarily looking for someone to hand me a ZIP code or a deal. I’m trying to narrow this down to two or three markets that I can spend the next year really learning and analyzing.