I hear many agents mention "we aren't even back to where we were before the bubble burst", well that bubble was artificially generated.

There is a high probability that any house you buy will reflect market value and hence current taxes that are too low.Most houses will have the Homestead exemption or other exemptions that have artificially capped property taxes.

Some listings will advertise "PRICED AT 10.5% CAP RATE" but I honestly never consider those to be valid as the current owners factor very little maintenance, no cap ex, and almost always no property management into their equation, artificially inflating their numbers.

i'm not sure how taxes are based in your area ... in some regions taxes are based on purchase price ... so using last years amount may be an artificially low amount.

If you agree with this logic, then you also agree that the mortgage landscape affects demand and therefore impacts price.I believe a downturn is inevitable, especially given our 'waffling' economy and my hypothesis that demand is artificially inflated with highly leveraged mortgages, which could result in a panic sell-off if a minor downturn results in too many underwater homeowners.

With artificial intelligence, labor costs are going to continue to decline...possibly exponentially.

It's also possible the foreclosures won't ramp up to previous levels keeping supply artificially low.

Sometimes they will use unrealistically low numbers to artificially inflate the cap rate. 

Not because it's mean or makes you feel bad but because that will lead to artificial turnover.

This is the only method that will determine the true cash flow from a investment separate from any artificial cash flow purchased with your own money.