Wallace,
The short answer is Northwest New York areas like Rochester, Syracuse, Oswego etc. There is no turn around necessary since these areas did not partake in the real estate boom. They just continued to chug along at an even rate of appreciation between 2 and 4%.
In those areas, because the boom market never effected the area, housing prices remained low, slow and steady. Income for the area is about the same as it is in any other city of similar size.
So what you end up with is property that will rent for around 2% of value.
A single family home with 3 beds and 1 bath will rent for approx. $600 t0 $800 per month and you can easily find SFHs that sell for between $35000 and $60,000.
The longer answer is to do some simple investigating. Check the average income figures for various MSAs in what ever part of the county you might be interested in. Multiply the mean income in that MSA by 25%. (The portion of total gross income that the average person will set aside for housing.
Then take that figure and devide by 12 to get the monthly allocation for housing and multiply that figure by 100 to get preferred max value you would want to pay for a rental property.
For example, in Rochester New York, the mean income is $48,000 per year.
$48000 x 25% IS $12000 PER YR DEVIDED BY 12 = $1000.00 PER MONTH FOR HOUSING. $1000.00 X 100 = $100,000 THE MAXIMUM PRICE YOU CAN PAY FOR A PROPERTY TO "BREAK EVEN.
Since you can find decent property in nice areas of the Rochester NY MSA under $50,000 all day long, cash flow in this area is a no brainer.
By the way, I do not live in that area, nor do I have any direct affiliations with realtors in that area, it is just one of the many areas that I have researched and purchased property in over the last few years.
Other MSAs that I have researched and purchased in over the last view years are Charlotte NC, Dallas Tx, and a few areas in Pennsylvania.
Mrskeptical