We selected an area that had good summer rentals (obviously because it is a lake house), but we also found a lake near a very good football program so we could also get fall rentals. 

I did not mean to imply a junior was ever forced to agree to a short sale...just that the amounts to which they will agree are usually very predictable. 

Hey my name is Sedrick,I just finished up my football career at UNL.

Predictably the answers are all over the place, since people's skills and talents are greatly variable.

Ask yourself questions like: What if we can't raise the rents as fast as we predicted?

If this hurricane is as bad as they predict there is going to be a lot of homeless families due to the storm .

It is impossible to know for sure, because know one can predict cap rates 12 to 18 months out.

There's been a property down the street from me that has been listed a few times, and I've looked at it from the outside (and that was enough to scare me and likely anyone else who has looked at it) which doesn't help me predict rehab cost.

Taken together, they can have predictive value.

I get better at predicting the costs each time, and a little better at avoiding surprises.