So for those starting out in RE, there is no need to optimize return by going super high leverage. 

The best way to find them is to send out mailers.Some good lists to target are Absentee Owners with Equity, Seniors with Long-time Ownership and Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores.You can work with a list broker to optimize your list for your area.

I’m also middle of the map, slightly less capital chasing than you have in NC so maybe part of my optimism.

You are assuming a perfect world for the stock investment, but applying sub optimal assumptions/strategies to the real estate investing.

I've chosen to focus on my clients, grow my management base, and optimize my current portfolio, letting the cash sit for a rainy day, although I obviously won't pass up a great deal if it falls in my lap. 

. - The middle class will likely have hard times which linger longer than normal because of the oil and gas issues @Will Fraser and @Landon Whitt I think it’s worth paying attention to how low interest rates, more free time, and short term projections of optimism are impacting buyer decisions.

@Alex Vegh,I get the feeling that those investors were probably burned by some "less than optimal" wholesalers i the past, and they don't want to go through that again. 

So is anyone in the thread have any optimism on a big come back for Sin city in terms of investing? 

Although, I love the optimism by some here and everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion, my opinion is this virus is going to have an affect on our economy for many months ahead and may even go into 2021.

What you should be optimizing is your after-tax return net of tax savings and not tax savings exclusively.