In my opinion there was a short window to buying rentals on the coast to get a decent cash-on-cash return on condos, sfr’s and and 2-4’s. That was late 2008-end of 2011. I think the window is mostly closed once again. You might be find a deal in a bad area here and there, but for the most part the deals are way worse now. To me not worth it for the pain of buy & hold. And this fact doesn’t really even reflect in the overall median numbers. But you could “steal” properties from late 2008-2011 and get spectacular deals when there was still some inventory, more fear in the market, banks were not doing through appraisals on short sales, etc… You could get really good deals and in good locations. But now it is a way different market. Decent deals are flooded with offers the day they hit the MLS. There is now no more fear, banks are doing better appraisals on short sales, there is no inventory, etc… Real estate is no longer scary to buy. Certain submarkets and property types are up 30%+ in price since that time.
On landlording I think checking past rental history is key. The KEY is to talk to PRIOR landlords, not just current landlord of the place they are moving out of. Current landlords may just want to get that tenant out of the property. You have to be careful though you are not talking to a “plant” by the tenant. If you check the last few years and the tenant has never missed a rent payment, your odds are pretty good.
