Builders have no incentive to build new stock of clean affordable housing because margins are slimmer and many cities are against that type of housing.  

I'm wondering, why would I rent out a single family home vs putting my money in a stock market index fund?

I have studied and read numerous books on investing in stock market and am at a point as a passive investor of the market and my future as an investor is all but decided and mapped accordingly.  

I put my proceeds in the stock market for now but am looking to invest in a 3-fam, 4-fam, more-than-4-fam, or mixed-use bldg. 

Or you can look for alternative ways to invest your money... unfortunately, the stock market isn't offering any bargains right now either.

It's a bit like comparing today's stock prices to the crash between 1929-1933 or 2008-2009 and saying everything is over-valued. 

Her unofficial job is keeping the STRs cleaned, stocked and ready to rent.

My goal (considering TVM principles) to get my money back within 5-10 years and for net present value to be better than selling and putting the cash in a conservative portfolio of stocks/bonds - which would be for me: 25% stocks/65% diversified bonds/10% cash or something of that nature yielding 3-4% after tax.My challenge still.... is the math and comparative analysis with different seller financing structuring. 

Holding real estate is no different than holding stocks from a big picture perspective. 

It's too simple and tells you NOTHING about the future... which by the way, even a Squirrel knows about the future since he has to put his Nuts away for the winter or he may starve.So, we really ALL... that means all the readers of this posts and everyone on BP and every Investor whether or not you are a RE Investor or Stock Investor..... learn IRR.