Don't get me wrong; there are plenty of issues/problems/quirks that old houses have that new houses don't, and an old house can obviously have hidden problems and big repair/maintenance bills too--which is why thorough due diligence is fundamental to REI...but, the point is: a brand new house is not a foolproof solution to repairs/maintenance headaches (and in some cases, a brand new house can be a much bigger gamble than an older house).This is a particularly important lesson for inexperienced investors, who tend to be the most prone to "shiny object syndrome" (the tendency to let nice aesthetics distract from real, underlying issues).

I had a similar spending problem but it was going out to bars, gambling, and clothes.One day I woke up and was like hey, where do I want to be financially in “x” time frame.

Our biggest challenges are 1) tenant friendly (impossible to increase rents to keep pace with market) 2) High price per door 3) Poor rent to price ratio  If your approach is to gamble on appreciation, Metro Vancouver may be a fit, but I've found better overall returns elsewhere.

Advertise it online (though this generates mostly spam for me.)  

Yes it would be a gamble on appreiation, but just that - a gamble.

Banking on appreciation is gambling

Part of me wants to turn to my brokerage accounts but that’s essentially a gamble.

There are other riskier assets that I think should go up but they are far more of a gamble so I am using our retirement money for those.

Any other agents or investors having issues with their emails going to spam?

Please check your spam folder as well3.