HLS & Surveyor: Thanks for all the interesting info on selecting out of State real estate for investment. It does sound challenging, but definitely has its rewards. One aspect is as inflation hedge – real estate is pretty good as non-fiat money, even with illiquidity and bubbles. I don’t know how well stock market is for that purpose. For the average investor who may not want to mess with gold, oil or currency, real estate is probably the better hedge. Of course, nothing beats the 250K/500K tax exemption on primary residence, even ignoring mortgage interest deduction. That alone should motivate everyone to buy a home during a recession and sell when the bubble matures.