Be careful with new build communities that won't be fully built out during your hold time horizon.

Given a proper time horizon, I don't think most folks lose money, but in the short term real estate is a terrible "quit your job in 2 years with no money" strategy. 

Possible refinance opportunities on the horizon earlier than anticipated. 

Hopefully, the other aspects of real estate investing will present opportunities on the horizon.

The real answer is if your time horizon is 10-20-30 years, it doesn't matter. 

In my condos, I hold: they are pretty new, with healhy equity already, and solid, with no Special Assessment at the horizon.

Meanwhile that capital is not put to work, unless they park it in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc which are subject to market volatilities and shouldn't be used for shorter term investment horizons. 

With the potential for a Fed rate cut on the horizon, it's a great time to consider refinancing or purchasing a home.

Today, the viral videos are about why the pain is still on the horizon.7.

There are also nonzero probabilities of having special assessments for a medium-term horizon.