should be different. In Chicago market, you focus more on cash flow and quantity. In other words, you buy more lower-priced properties and make them all cash flow even. Even if Chicago's appreciation rate is far far less than Manhattan, you can still make money because all the slow growth factor is compensated by the quantity, e.g., the number of house you bought and the amount of money you leveraged from the banks. The concept is mathematically simple, you have compensate the small percentage by bigger base number, then the result will still be great.

If you are in NYC, you only need to buy 1 or 2 houses, and hold for 10-20 years, you will be set for retirement. In chicago, you may need to buy 5-8 houses to achieve the same goal.