1) I think it’s “funny” that not one news article I ever read for the last 5 years had headlines like “Housing at historical record lows!

This is pretty clean.Scenario 2:  Your partner has owned the house for 15 years and has been taking accelerated depreciation, so the book value of the house is very low. 

Investing in a low-crime area.I'm not being facetious. 

Idle money is the quickest path to low returns and does no good for anyone.

Quote from @Tyler Garza: Deal :Duplex Home2 beds / unit2 baths / unit3,000 sqftAsking 300k60k downEst rent/yr - 31,2005% Vacancy20% Op ExpenseMortgage 240k assuming 7%Results: CF - 6,600Cocr - 11%Cap - 8%Looking at this for a buy and hold and trying to determine if I am analyzing this right@Tyler Garza I can get to your COC of 11% and cap rate of 8%, but since I don't know your loan payment or amort, I'm not sure how you got to CF of $6,600 - I'm getting arond $4,600.And a couple of things jump out at me with your assumptions versus most of my CFO clients: 1) a 5% vacancy rate and 20% Op exp margin seem a little low, 2) an LTV of 80% LTV (with a 7% interest rate) seems high unless you're house hacking, 3) Depending on the location of the property, the $1,300/month/unit rent may be low.

Getting a pro account at HD or Lowes might be a solution. 

One can do well with low price high risk but max leverage and thinking our going to sit in your barcolounger while you let your tenants pay for your retirement is not reality unless you live there and work it basically daily.. 

We took about 14 months to close this deal and the seller was very generous on keeping the price low.

I think this is a calculation a lot of homeowners are making right now--especially if they have a low interest mortgage, equity, and their house will cashflow as a rental.The choice is a personal one of course, but I think your future self will thank you if you pull out some equity from your existing home with a HELOC for the downpayment on the next house and a cushion renting your current home, use a property manager as you have other things to do, and buy the next house and do the same thing again.

FSBO is very possible in hot markets.. if you already have buyers lined up.. in markets that are not hot your going to get deluged by investors looking to low ball..