It seems like I need to check further away from the DMV area.My feelings are if you want “cash flow” you should buy a bond (I really like the tips rate right now) there is next to no reason to buy real estate for cash flow, if you are going to buy you should buy with appreciation in mind, which is not to say that’s the route I’d go, I’ve been liquidating properties to put in stocks and money market funds over the last few years and u just did the math and I’ve come out well ahead, but just to say there are arguments for stocks/bonds, there are arguments for levered appreciation, but the cap rates pretty much anywhere aren’t worth it vs an inflation protected bond, especially since a 3/rd of inflation is real estate anywhere, you could get “cash flow” and inflation protection much easier through a tips.

It’s been a wild ride—full of challenges, lessons, and a few big wins that made it all worth it.

I would not envy investors who participate in this vehicle when the team has not track record of success with it. 

If it were 2007 all over again and you knew you could sell at a record high, and invest your capital into conservative bonds and wait until the market corrected, would you?

It may be worth it for me to hold and take a small loss monthly for what the appreciation will do. 

You can make a profit, but not worth the risk. 

@Kevin Collins I apologize; my response came out a little rough around the edges and I assume that you certainly have done your homework prior too.... but that is a bit of my point... nothing will change when you go and work with a realtor and find investment properties yourself... figuring out what the property is worth IS PART OF THE ANALYSIS (if that's important to you) and because of this it is no different than other than you should now be verifying what the realtor will tell you it's worth as opposed to what the turnkey is telling you. 

They should not SET the commission amount, because as the DOJ says, they do so under the threat of a group boycott if they don't offer the "standard" (which I know is a word you are not supposed to say).The reason Realtors and the NAR are fighting so hard to keep seller set commissions, is that buyers do not believe they get $12,000 worth of service when they buy the average $400k home.

Role-playing.     . you paid $300k 10 years ago, it’s worth $660k, (so when you sell you net $600k to make math easy.)and your cpa determined that you owned zero land, so it’s all depreciatable. you owe 15% on the $300k gain plus 25% tax on $109k depreciation recapture, so you owe $70k in federal taxes, then California reaches out for another $30k?  

The equity is actually what you are paying for the property.In this case let's look at the numbers that count,...the current numbers.You have about $500k or more in equity, which is buying you a property that's worth about $700k (I went with the lower PV.