They look inside the house for first time and see how their "gamble" paid off.Does it get any hokier than that??

Forecasting results with large components of systemic risk is gambling at best.

Any other scenario is pure gambling from my perspective.

It is sometimes a gamble too because when your pursuing these kinds of units, it is likely the owner is not paying their mortgage.

Andy Bankston haha, the only gambling I do is within the markets.

In pretty much every statistical example they give, there are so many variables that are uncontrolled for, that I'm not sure much can be gleaned from this, other than just empirical data.

MS is hoping the pro release will save the day, but not sure I'd be willing to gamble my money on it.

As for the rate of vacancies, its hugely dependant on the area and class of properties again, and whether or not you want to deal with government supported tenants (what you call section 8 in the US)- for me, in Japan, its a no-brainer, since they're nothing like yours in the US, but if that's where you plan to invest, you'd better give this some thought - these tenants will fill up your vacancies fast, but come with a whole unique set of issues.Totally with you on the leverage front, wouldn't touch a mortgage with a ten foot pole these days, seen too many smart individuals and savvy companies (and I'm not saying this with cynicism) get very badly burned with assumptions regarding appreciation, depreciation and amortization - to think the GFC is a once in a lifetime event and will never happen again is the biggest (and dumbest) gamble of all, in my perspective.The amount of time you'll spend on each property, again, is a direct factor of the class of properties and areas you invest in, and the quality of your chosen team, in particular your property manager.

If you want to gamble on appreciation, rent it out, PM it yourself, mow the yard and yourself, then go for it and sell in 2 years.

I wonder what percentage of people just take a gamble and play Russian roulette with the DOS clause.