The 10 best cities to buy a rental property if you want to make extra money on the side

One lucrative way to earn money on the side is through a rental property - or two, or ten. But your potential for profit depends greatly on where you choose to buy property.

Real estate management firm HomeUnion ranked the best real estate investment opportunities for 2017 in its recently released National Single-Family Rental Research Report, which considered rental housing supply and demand, levels of new construction, and entry prices in 31 major metro areas across the US.

For the ranking, HomeUnion looked specifically at single-family residences, and measured each metro area's cap rates, entry prices, and projected job growth, penalizing markets with high rates of new construction due to the elevated risk of competition. Read more about the methodology here.

Overall, it's a good time to get into the rental property market.

"Strong job growth will encourage new household formation, particularly among millennials that have been living with their parents," Steve Hovland, director of research for HomeUnion and the lead author of the 2017 NSFR, explained. "As most of these new households are unlikely to enter the ownership pool, this will create demand for rental properties."

If you're considering investing in a rental property, read on for the best places to buy.