My wife and I are planning to move and buy our first home. We'd like to buy a multifamily property and live in one of the units. I have some questions:
1. How can we evaluate the quality of real estate markets remotely, especially as novices? We have a big list of places (~30) we're interested in living in (TX, FL, SC, NC, VA, NJ, PA), but it's hard to compare them.
2. I find very few multi-family properties for sale. Is this just the way it is, or is it possible that I'm searching wrong, or is it a sensitive function of the neighborhood?
3. I've been using trulia and craigslist to investigate the properties in these places. Are there other sites I should be using?
We'd like to buy more property after this, so a promising real estate market will be a major factor in our decision of where to go. So far, none of the markets seem good. Of course, I haven't developed a good sense for it, yet, and I don't want to make a hasty judgment. Any advice is welcome.