A lot of people who earmark for 1031 end up buying a property they never would have bought if the timeframe wasn't running.

Again, the BiggerPockets store has some books on this topic, or you can learn about it by watching podcasts, reading blogs, and interacting on the forum.

While rates were near all time lows, we bought a home that we could reside in and rent out the backyard detached living garage space.

I've bought a bunch of houses right off the MLS and they've all made me a good deal of money.

Especially considering that the seller we bought the CFDs from did not report on the borrowers.

Quote from @Michael Daley: We bought a house in the SDSU area last year with an attached JADU.

Many older owners bought new when starting retirement or before and have aged along with the complex.

I personally bought a home in British Columbia in 2001 and thats how it worked there .. you went to the bank They charged a nominal fee and the interest rate was competitive to other banks.

We bought the property seller-financed with power, a small bathroom/laundry building, a 40x60 metal shop building, an RV pad with 'full hookups' (power, water, septic) and not much else.  

I can say one mistake I made was while buying in great neighborhoods (up and coming) I lost equity on two where we bought on a busier street.