With low bank interest rates and a volatile equities market, more and more monies are finding their way into real estate investments and it has made finding deals difficult in many areas.

Which sectors are the least volatile?

If the market doesn't offer you 1%, but you're still taking home something decent, you could still beat the stock market or achieve some other goal, such as matching the stock market but with less volatility, and be ok.

In my experience the upwardly mobile tenant is more volatile...corporate hedging, job changes, relocation, promotion...becoming a home owner.

They had good dividends but the prices were volatile, so they weren't very liquid because I didn't want to take the money out when the fund was down.

House prices are nuts, and you work in a field with a ton of job volatility.

Demand is figuring it out, sellers are figuring it out and that's going to lead to more volatility in the short term.

Another reason is lower volatility- select midwestern markets don't appreciate or depreciate as much as the aforementioned major hubs.

In a volatile situation like this, you need to get both people out to get rid of this problem.

Cash flow rentals tend to be more prominent in the Midwest whereas investing for appreciation/flipping potential could be higher on the coasts where values are more volatile.