Back then I was expecting a dip in the market but not a total collapse that we all experienced.

The last time it increased that fast was just before the collapse. 

The Houston market is very strong and I'm confident even during a recession it won't collapse as much as other markets.

Sold before bubble collapsed market. 

Many sit until they rot so badly they collapse.

The regulations make it irritating sometimes, and you have to check to be sure you're in compliance because they watch you like hawks here, but nobody is going to put the kibosh on it any time soon, considering it'd collapse the county's economy if they eliminated STRs.

Although I can't speak for others but unless your running your stuff like a slumlord I don't see a lot of liability coming out of owing rentals.short of some super bad thing like 20 kids parting on a deck and it collapse severly injuring someone.

So is this an early indication that the big REITs are on their way out and collapsing?

I moved out to Vegas about four and a half years ago, after getting my Bachelor's in Business Management just in time to see the global market collapse around my ears.

Imagine this: it's 08 and you've been successfully using this strategy and then suddenly the market collapses.