I have an 18 year old friend who plays competitive baseball and is a beast in real estate with his mentor. 

No it doesn’t, it’s just how he played the game back then.

I also have some solid contacts I can bring into play.

@luke Carl sold his hot rod, I sold a bunch of guitars and a rare Marshall silver jubilee 25/50 amp (just like slash played on appetite for destruction while we’re talking about GnR.

Personally, I would never live in PHX, but that is all personal biases (I prefer seasons and greenery), and clearly lots of people choose to live in PHX.At the end of the day, I would argue market selection almost only comes into play when you are talking assets that cater to institutional buyers that have to get investment committee sign off. 

Yes, in the smaller communities that I live, work, and play in.

There are major things at play here that are extremely specific to NJ  when it comes to buying a multi family property. 

Flipping or BRRRR in a secondary Florida market (Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando) can also be a solid play if you find deep discounts. 

I'm seeing a lot of people lately trying to force themselves into house hacks without an immediate cash flow/equity play and "banking" on appreciation or rates dropping. 

Even as early as this August, they were supposed to send us our original investment back, and then it really took a turn last week and when I finally got Neal on a Zoom call, he was talking another 2 years before it all played out.