Seeking wisdom from experienced investors

[Paul Garcia]

Seeking wisdom from investors who’ve been through a cycle or two. I’m 23 years old and realize I don’t have the experience of someone who has been investing in real estate for many years. I’m a numbers guy and I create models/projections of where I will be in X amount of years given certain assumptions. Obviously a huge factor in these projections is my return rate. So far, things have been great and my returns are all in the mid 20s with buy and hold properties with no major work or unconventional financing. I hope this will continue forever but I know that mindset would be naïve. How do changes in the market effect return rates (interest rates, home values, rental rates, etc.)? Simply put, what could possibly go wrong!? I’ve always assumed with my type of investing strategy, everything balances out. For example, when interest rates were 15% (can’t even imagine) people still invested in real estate and were profitable, right?