Looking for feedback on these market for multifamily CRE
I'm looking for my first investment property in these 3 markets:

1. Chicago, IL
2. Denver, CO
3. Portland, OR.

I'm interested in higher-than-average income neighborhood, even better with upside possibility (gentrifying). I'm mostly looking at urban, smaller size (6-10 units) that are in good neighborhoods. I see a lot of those in Chicago neighborhoods around downtown. Not very familiar with Denver. Portland would have rent control but that is not a big issue for me, the only issue is that I have seen very low CAP rates in Portland (4-5%) for multifamily.

Any brokers from these areas that I can pick your brains? My  questions are:

1. What is the trending CAP rates on these market these days?
2. Potential for appreciation?
3. Rental market / local economy prediction?

Are there other markets that could fit into these criteria?
[{"id": "izhtdue", "text": "Denver is my pick. \n\nI don't remember exact caps off the top of my head and I'm not logging in to look them up, but I'm fairly confident that Chicago is quite high, Portland's a little above average and Denver is below average.  Problem is, measuring cap rates right now is kind of  a crap shoot. Caps are under immense pressure and a lot of sellers are just hunkered down. Because of how low trailing caps are, Denver's probably under the most upward pressure, but a lot of stuff is probably not coming to market because a lot of capital is not interested in paying caps that are inverted against BBBs.  Which is probably something you should consider, come to think of it.  But this comes to why I'd like Denver right now; if you can pick up a deal at a going in cap rate that's not negatively leveraged, Denver is structurally a solid growth market with drivers that will carry forward after a recession.  Portland's actually got a similar story, but I think you do need to watch out for rent control issues.  Chicago is a reasonable pick because it's been oversold for a while, hence the high cap rates, but capital loves core in a downturn.  On a relative level I think buying into Chicago right now might be buying \"high\". That said, getting a nice going in cap means you don't need the rent growth you'd look for in Portland or Denver.\n\nAll three are actually fine markets, and even if they weren't deals can work in just about any market.  That said, it you're looking to buy right now, you might be trying to catch the falling knife.  A place like Denver has a ton of inventory underway; waiting until vacancy bites a little more there could give you some leverage.  In the meantime, bonds are liquid and yielding well.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "izr0pah", "text": "I'm a broker in Chicago, if you know where to pick multi-units you could make some serious cash in the next few years, especially with qoz. I've purchased several units in these areas (SFH, 1 multi) and in 7 more years I can sell with zero capital gains tax.\n\nhttps://www.businessinsider.com/a-zillow-economist-predicts-homebuyers-will-flock-midwest-in-2023-2022-12", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]