>Appreciation means nothing to me as I'm not selling and I don't do 2nd mortgagesI have only one property with a second and that is because the second loan is artificially low (it is at 3%). 

The appreciation rates in most markets are artificial.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you choose to make the unit a rental your property tax is artificially low due to prop 13 which provides you cash flow opportunity that someone purchasing the property today would not have.  

Generaly the reserve price is artificially kept high to entice a naive bidder to bid and ober pay for the property. 4. don't forget your 5% premium on top of tyour bid price. 5.

I don't necessarily have the expertise to know which semiconductor, artificial intelligence, marijuana, or blockchain company is going to be the next big winner; however I do know that regardless of how one company does, these industries are on the rise, therefore I invest in ETFs that follow the index of these industries I just mentioned.

There's pretty much no way around it -- after keeping interest rates artificially low for so long, all assets are now incorrectly priced, and everything breaks down when interest rates rise.

What would you do if eminent domain was exercised on your property at today's artificially devalued pricing, funded by the money printing machine?

Again, I like real estate fine now with the artificial stock prices caused by low interest rates, but let's just be honest about the return.

Novice investors attribute zero value to cash to artificially increase the perception of their returns on a property.

Don't forget that you are artificially putting alot of pressure by having a 12 year loan.If you relative doesn't cost you anything, even if this house cost you a few hundred now and than, it is better than paying ALL the expense.