Of the conversations I have had with people discussing hard money lending, some seemed opinionated in that the high interest rates and terms were enough to scare them off.

If you believe your property’s assessed value is too high, you have the right to challenge it.

Would love cash flow, of course, but if I could at least break even on a highly appreciating property, I'd be happy with that. 

This is partially offset by high international immigration and births.

Quote from @Tom Hall: My mortgage rate is very high  and I would like to pay some of it off, so that my monthly payments would go down a bit, I dont know if it is financial smart to do it or not?

. - Prices are too high- Prices are falling- Interest rates are too high- My Cousins, Mothers, Sister told me that Real Estate is too riskyThere’s never a “perfect” time, but everyone wishes that they started sooner.

I highly recommend her.

And this low demand could be a couple of factors, either a rural location with low population density or the area incomes are not high enough in order to prevent a rent burdened scenario. 

Saw some new building going on around Lawerenceville with high asking prices..close to L.A prices it seems.https://www.redfin.com/PA/Pittsburgh/4618-Carlton-...

This is highly lender-specific; there are no universal guidelines for DSCR loans like there are for GSE/Govvy loans.