In an up market it will be more than a flat or decreasing market. 

Again in the above case the optimal down payment to maximize the cash flow was $0.We adjust this percentage up or down based on the effect it has on increasing or decreasing the Cash flow output to a level equal to self Financed cash flow or greater.

The relationship between changes in employment and changes in real estate prices becomes more obvious when we look at percent change in employment, and the rate of change (second derivative, but don't get bogged down in the terminology..)This is interesting because:1) The relationship appears meaningful2) You can see a deceleration in employment gains (lower growth rate) while real estate prices are still increasing (at a decreasing rate).

That being said it doesn't work if there aren't renters in the property or rents decrease substantially so I'm nervous to invest in a market at the top which is why I was looking more at condos as they appear to be lagging behind that market. 

@Bob Bowling One more thing, I just re-read your posting (repetition is the mother of learning) and noted your comment about the average .8% RTV ratio in Hawaii and San Francisco.Based on the rents posted by @Kawika Burgess, the $1M property renting for $4,200/month should either see rent increases to $8K per month, a value decrease to $500K, or some combination of rent increases and decrease in value.Are you expecting rents in Hawaii to double?  

This is the same as checking your own credit.However, if a renter lets the landlord run the report, this will often register as a “hard” inquiry which decreases the renter’s credit score.

well I think that it would be a marginal decrease of cash overall but I feel confident that it would still be a positive cash flow.

Chances are that if the seller is FSBO you can negotiate with them using the caveat that you have no agent so they should decrease the price accordingly (if they priced in a buyers agent commission).

I unfortunately did exactly what has been told and the condo fee keeps increasing every year and it is starting to worry me a little because of the monthly cash flow decrease.

If anything, I would expect the Cleveland real estate market to decrease in value over 2016.