My take on the area is that it is great for buy-and-hold (although you absolutely do want to be particular about the area) and a nice inflation-resistant asset that can actually cash flow unlike what I hear from Austin.

You can calculate all the prices for approx. material costs (I inflate these numbers), and get with a contractor to give you a good idea of labor costs.

(not he said/she said)It may be diff in other areas... no clueFlips at 70% are also rare here now unless the numbers are inflated on resale/arv and the rehab estimate is low.

If you’re familiar with SF apts it’s a prime example of what happens when you get rent control - crappy buildings/obsolete units and insane market rents that are artificially inflated by rent control.The thing to watch out for if you own commercial deals (5+ unit apts too), is on the 2020 ballot they’re going to have a vote to separate prop 13 so commercial deals are no longer protected.

The issue is twofold:1) I have no idea when I'll find a deal, yet I have to be able to liquidate (the principle) quickly2) In the meantime I would to have some yield, at least inflation adjusted + some percentage Many thanks,Alon* Honored to write here.

Are these areas basically a keep up with inflation appreciation play?

Currently home buyers are able to qualify for an over inflated amount due to not having to pay their full tax bill for the first 10 years on a new or fully rehabbed property.

And depending on where your property is and how inflated the prices are there, you could be about to lose a lot of equity. 

They must be using averages or something to inflate the numbers, because you can definitely make less than the stated income (by quite a bit) and afford rent in the various states that I am familiar with.

Also 1% appreciation is extremely low even in no growth markets most people use 3% (inflation average) for calculations.