The market crashed we lost several zeros But what a fun ride trying to out give God.Look for the opportunities to give and where He wants you to give. 

With all the uncertainty going on with the world, with the wars in the middle east, longshoremen strikes, election in November, and potential for stock market and housing market crashes, should I hold off on purchasing real estate until the world is more "stable"?

. :)It tends to even out – AS LONG AS YOU ARE IN THE MARKET.I know we are all stinging from the 2008 crash.

Average tenant stay of over 5 years.7 evictions in 17+ years out of >1,000 tenants.Income reliability: Our clients had zero decrease in rent and zero vacancies during the 2008 financial crash.

Not saying we will have the big crash again but prices are elevated by historical standards.

Regarding finding "deals", read below:The Real Estate Crash of 2008-2010 caused real estate prices to crash across the country - but didn't affect rent amounts.

A big chunk of the housing shortage goes back to the Crash of '07 / '08 when, according to the economists of the day, 80% of builders and developers went bankrupt once the supply of new mortgage lending dried up.A good solution - though not the only one, certainly - would be to get home building back on track.

thanks, Edward Edward,While you certainly can acquire more properties and growth with leverage, you can also crash and burn if the real estate market turns against you.There is a pretty well known Bigger Pockets commentator who suggests you don't even make money until your down payment has been returned through cashflow.

Not enough to really warrant a "crash", just cause supply is still constrained. 

Me personally as someone who went through the crash in 08 I like free and clear doesn’t mean I don’t have any bank financed mortgages but those properties I have pulled all my cash back out of those properties.