My general advice to anyone considering it is to look at areas that are growing (vs areas that are stagnating/shrinking)
and IF possible look at areas that are reasonable commuting distance from either an airport, major medical center OR college/technical school etc. These 3 rarely close down.
There are many parts of the country that property isn’t worth much more than it was 10 years ago, (and there was no bubble)
The trade-off is that the cash flow & depreciation should be much better than an area with appreciation (on paper) but poor cash flow.
From a So Cal perspective, it’s hard to grasp that a property hasn’t gone up in 10 years, but there are plenty of areas that it’s true. Rents don’t rise quickly.
Nobody knows if property values will continue to rise anywhere, although most people expect it to.
In the long run, the expected benefit of alternate areas should be cash flow/income VS. equity increase, although both can happen.
I’ve had some very astute investors tell me that in hindsight they may have done better on paper with appreciation, however they have had a very nice stream of cash income and that you can’t spend appreciation. No regrets.
Different strokes for different folks.
Going back to OP, I would not consider an $825K property with $800 a month property taxes + HOA ($ ??) that would only rent for $3000-$3500 a month after down payment. Huge negative every month, hoping/praying/wishing/dreaming for appreciation;
but in the long run it might work out! Who knows.
