Regarding comparisons to other countries, I have worked with the Japanese market for over 8 years. 8% is definitely high yield.

I am new to the real estate too and still learning all the terms and such (was a stock day/swing trader wanting a more passive income) so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

A house down the street from me sold for 450K to a Japanese hedge fund only to be rented out for 2K.

As a stock and options trader I had to think about that in the Daily term and right now I am a Futures trader using the shortest term trading method.

In the past the  sophisticated investors from Hong Kong were the dominant buyers in the Japanese real estate market.

How long is the cooling off period between capital raises to avoid being tagged as a trader and requiring licensing?

My Dad and I have a financial market background- he's been a Stocks/Commodities/Currency trader and Money Manager since the 90s.

They are not new but you may not have read them.The Power of Habit - great book for understanding your own and other peoples habits.Hmm, most of the books I can think of have been mentioned on the BP podcasts.Buy and Hold by David Schumacher is great.The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing - great for getting your own house in order.not a book, but a blog - Mr Money Mustache - great for getting your own life focused if Financial freedom is your thing. 

This is what stock traders would call "relative strength" which basically means given all the other investment choices of the moment, investors are choosing REITs.Again, its not to say these can't come down later on, but at least for the moment, it seems that some investors are actually running into Real Estate instead of away from it.How crazy would it be that the "real" risk in 2016 was not having enough real estate vs. having too much of it.  

Perhaps If you are a successful bitcoin trader, then sure. give it another year before deciding if you are a successfully trading bitcoin.