As you gain experience and earnings, you will be in a better position to invest in riskier markets or play the appreciation game.Russell has a different experience and different advice. 

Play the long game, buy and hold strategy, and over the long haul you will see your net worth go up and to the right.

Rents in that market are also declining so those I-Buyers who decided to play the rent game instead are faring no better. 

And some people dont want to "bet on appreciation," as that's speculating and they don't want to play the house - they want to know exactly what their return on investment is each month, not hope that there is a 100% roi in a year - that only happens to very few people, and isnt the norm. 

Play the long game.4.

, mainly going for that "worst house in the best area" mentality.I'm okay with less cashflow because I want to play the long game and I think San Antonio is going to continue to be a great place to hold real estate.

Obviously then more sitting aside not really in play the less your portfolio is growing, but I don’t like to be all in, aggressive intelligent investments while preparing for the worst to absolutely avoid losing it all..

Although it may not look great to go to them with the problem that arose, that is far better than going to an outside source and not telling them of the hiccup.Next suggestion, albeit I dont like this one myself, is you have to play the game of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

@John Matthew Johnston a lot of factors will come into play. The

I refuse to play the victim and have used the time to fuel my success.