In these uncertain times I’m wondering if the market will go up or down.

With so much uncertainly, I would stay away from doing ground up construction projects until you are certain you can lock in certain prices for materials.

In my case, my dad told me in no uncertain terms that I should quit my silly idea to get involved in real estate.

There are many other areas (Nashville is a popular example) where legislation exists that has tight restrictions on who can have an STR and under what circumstances, possible caps on number of rental days, an arduous permit process, etc. etc.  

It can take many years and lots of $$ for the plaintiffs to try and pierce that corporate veil and even then it's a very uncertain thing.

I don't typically factor appreciation into my analysis because it seems too uncertain, but debt paydown certainly.

It probably does not matter to you personally until you need someones approval for something, or until legislation is made.

Those are the areas where the cash flow numbers look the best, but the long term outlook is uncertain.

They may be having a bad quarter or the regulatory environment is uncertain at call/option time and the committee will call your loan.I've paid off 2 with a 3rd ending a natural death in 2019.

I think our future as a Nation is still VERY uncertain but I'm hopeful that real estate prices will continue to creep up through the Spring of 2013.