Actually lead paint can be very dangerous and cause serious health side effects.People just do not connect the dots that their sickness came from the lead paint.If you go through and read the EPA's site in depth on the data it is conclusive on the studies performed.Paint in general can have VOC's (volatile organic compounds) that can cause problems as well.You can buy and use no to little VOC paint and put that as a bullett point on your rehabs.Yes it costs some more but can be worth it.

If the reason for such volatility in the number on your balance sheet is say your bank balance which is going up and down based on your cash in and out puts then you are measuring the wrong thing and the data is not all that important but I suppose it might be interesting to know.Again if you use the rule of you only have a gain when the investment concludes then you start to get to a homogeneous set of data to compare to.

Everything seems so volatile to me- variances on shadow inventory estimates, stock market up & down, lenders backtracking on loans, possible bulk sales by the gov't., job growth vs sustainable job/wage levels etc etc.And of course this IS an election year....How much is hype?

Is there any volatility in your job?

You are correct that LA market can be volatile, but I guess the upside of it is that it seems there are always more people coming into LA than leaving, so you know the demand is always there.

Some markets that come to mind: - Texas (houston)- Midwest areasMy opinion, I'd stay away from the ones you know can be volatile: -Las Vegas-Phoenix-Miami*Please note that I am NOT saying I expect these markets to go down or up.

Historically, real estate is less volatile than the stock market, and you get more return per unit of risk you take (depending on what you invest in!).

I get the feeling you love volatility lol) Good luck and happy investing!

I grew up in one of the most volatile real estate markets in the US (Southern CA) & have watched the "leverage to the hilt" folks sky-rocket up, live the high life for awhile, only to lose their shirts (and the houses, Mercedes, and helicopters) when the market comes crashing down.

It can be tactically advantageous for an investor to be able to buy and then sell a share of a REIT quickly, however that ability also leads to higher degrees of price volatility not necessarily directly correlated to the performance of the real estate.