With the ARV so high, the numbers could have fluctuated up or down by several thousand dollars, but at the end of the day, the sellers got out with cash in hand, instead of 0, and the buyer got a great deal. 

The owner's equity does fluctuate as the market fluctuates.

We have a 36 bed ALF - Lower income - we figured out how to make money serving a market others do not like to serve -It's been rewarding We have GREAT people/staff now --- People are one of the most important aspectsAs for #'s - it really is a depends question as labor rates vary, state regs are going to vary on how you need to staff etc.Here's the order of our expenses monthly:Wages  (About 40-50% of revenue when we have a good month - fluctuates and this includes my salary which really at any other location may be a management fee etc - but wise to build something in)Principal and interest paymentFood  (When I bought the business Food was higher than P&I but we got it lowered by tweaking some things - I'm sure we could tweak it a little more but I'm not the type that wants to wring every drop of blood out of a turnip - some waste, loss etc is going to happen - I have cooks that take good care of the residents and they are happy which is what I care about)ElectricityAnyways wages by far and away are the largest expense item.I went down this path so am a bit biased I guess - but find a struggling business or an existing one for sale and find a way to buy it and then improve the operations. 

Our appliance guys will not touch Bosch & we have had problems with them as well.Today we had a Whirlpool repaired ($241 parts & labor) for the temp fluctuations but at least that one is 6 years old. 

I'm baffled why rents fluctuate so much between the area this property is located to an area less than .25 miles away. 

Given a normal economy (with the expected fluctuations), how long would it take for developers to start buying up the land and starting their projects?

I'd go with the 80% LTV to give your self a little wiggle room during any market fluctuation and you also wouldn't have any PMIWould your current home cash flow after you consider all costs/budgeted expenses (Mortgage, tax, insurance, repairs, capex, vacancy, mangagement, etc.)

However she did say the rates were low currently and fluctuate depending on the economy.

Assets with less price fluctuation and higher cash flow tend to be in neighborhoods that don't have great schools. 

It fluctuates for sure.