People want to move to the countryside.We are 25 minutes from a 1mm metro.  

This matters a lot more than picking "the best" market.Price range: look up the median price for the greater area (metro area or 30+ min commute) and then buy close to the median or ideally a little over.Great points from @Travis Timmons

For markets, secondary cities can offer strong opportunities if you can identify areas with population growth, solid rent demand, and limited new supply sometimes these outperform the bigger Sun Belt metros in ROI.  

A few lessons from buying more than 10,000 homes:What works well• Focus on submarkets, not just metros.

Anyone in the denver metro rent out to section 8 voucher tenants?

Good luck - ---------------------------------------The Orlando-area new home market is showing clear signs of builder pressure due to a 32% year-over-year increase in single-family home inventory statewide as of August 2025, with excess supply particularly acute in Central Florida metros like Orlando.

You can still find properties in the $120–180K range that cash flow and hit the 1% rule, which is becoming harder to find in many metros.

You can still find solid single-family rentals in the $120–180K range that hit the 1% rule and cash flow from day one, which is rare in most major metros.

The deal as is under $600K and for a quad in the Atlanta metro...😮‍💨.

Columbus GA is typically more landlord friendly, strong military demand, simpler team building; many NC metros have tighter regulations and pricier entry but solid jobs and stability.