Bars, brothels and gambling sprung up around the railroad and we still see a more "colorful" environment in Ogden. 

That said, I've always advised our investors to keep at least 3 month in reserves - not to cover a missed payment but rather just to avoid the uncontrollable.

@David HunterWouldn't a better course for immediate action be to find a title rep and start narrowing down his farm prospects instead of gambling on an area and then losing steam when it doesn't work out?

You are not required to get it but rather you are gambling that you won't need it.

My area has seen a slight boost from casino gambling and the future of nanotechnology. 

I've heard many veteran investors now discounting them even further now to hedge for any possible changes that may come from city hall to elevate the houses X ft.With some of these houses, it's too much of a gamble to invest into them when you don't know what type of regulations the city will lay down in the near future.Unless you're buying at a deep discount, it's a bit too risky.

Everything is a gamble.

Why gamble with your money?

Here is why:1) every month I'm paying down my debt using my cash flow and can pay extra towards my debt and still make more money vs waiting for future appreciation2) rents in my area have gone up for 80 years now3) my rental income is subsidized by HUD so your tenants over time will not pay consistently when they lose their Job, get disgruntled, have a bad day lol4) the rental income I get is 2x more per dollar invested therefore I more than compensate for higher appreciation but I have advantage of 1 to 3 aboveSummary my IRR is guaranteed you are gambling on both your tenant and local market.

s, it's a fairly upscale house and yes, in this national market, that is a considerable degree of "speculation" (read: gambling).Unless you know it's a hot up-scale area, I'd opt for something more mainstream which caters to a much larger potential market.