What real estate bubble? That’s what home buyers and investors are saying in many parts of Georgia, Idaho, North and South Carolina, and Texas. These towns might not be cutting edge trend wise, but they offer those still looking for a real estate bargain new territory for appreciation. Plus you might actually be already living in a town that fits the profile for the next wave of real estate frenzy.

When you think about real estate investing, you should look at areas you’re familiar with. You know the growth possibilities, employment opportunities and long-range community plans. It’s easy to rattle off the new hot beds for investing, but after they’re listed in newspapers and magazines and talked about on TV, they’re typically not as good a value after the investor pack rushes in. As a investor myself, I look for strong communities that offer fair pricing, a good pool of tenants, resale buyers and consistent appreciation.

Let’s first talk about fair pricing. I always say to myself and my clients, the numbers don’t lie. For investment properties to work, look for ones priced under $200,000. You need that kind of price for cash flow. More expensive properties create negative cash flow, not something the average investor wants. Lower purchase prices also offer greater appreciation returns, you want as much upside for pricing growth. Investors with this strategy look for the higher priced properties in a market to drive their appreciation. This rewarded me well recently in south west Florida.

Good tenant pools and quality resale buyers are an important part of a good real estate investment property. I’ve seen many investors minimize the resale perspective when buying. But it is one of the important factors in an investment; exit strategy. I like good blue collar communities where many manufacturing employees prefer renting and the manufacturing management likes to buy and management is rotated in and out of the community as they are promoted. You would be surprised with the global and conglomerate business climate how many mid-size communities fit this scenario. Quality tenants don’t determine a property over time as well as are more flexible when you need to market the property when it comes time to sell.

Reasonable appreciation should be factored in to your real estate investment purchase. Many investors have gotten greedy in the last couple of years. Most markets won’t see the 20% annual appreciation for a long time. Expect and look for 3-5% annually and over five years that’s a nice premium on top of rental income. If you happen to be in a rapidly appreciating market it’s a bonus.

Why we won’t see that 20% annual appreciation for awhile. Personal incomes have not kept up with home prices. Salaries and wages need to make some big gains to fuel the next rapid appreciation cycle. In some post-red-hot markets prices could decline 5-10% and then plateau for a couple of years. Mortgage lenders have created new products to help those looking to afford in expensive markets. Interest-only and 40 and 50 year amortization come to mind, but tread carefully with these products.

Mark Nash’s fourth real estate book, “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home” (2005), and working as a real estate broker in Chicago are the foundation for his consumer-centric real estate perspective which has been featured on ABC-TV, Associated Press,CBS The Early Show, Bloomberg TV, Bottom Line Magazine.CNN-TV, Chicago Sun Times & Tribune, Fidelity Investor’s Weekly, MarketWatch, HGTVpro.com, MSNBC.com, Smart Money Magazine,The New York Times, Realty Times, Universal Press Syndicate and USA Today.