I was talking with a woman who volunteered that during the Depression in 1929, her  Great Grandfather  had ~10 SFH that he rented.

The seacoast area is considered to be a strong growth area, but I know a guy who successfully focuses on Claremont, which many consider to be a permanently depressed area.  

Third, Cowlitz county is very economically depressed with little light at the end of the tunnel.  

From what I know about RE it is still pretty depressed there.

We put as little down in the house as possible and get forced appreciation through buying a great poprety that is depressed (foreclosure/short sale , work needed etc). 

In a bad recession/depression people get more creative with living arrangements, such as moving with mom and dad, friends, renting out rooms etc, thus more rentals are freed up

We once had a house that was originally a flip, didn't sell for 2 months (depressing), got an offer for a corporate rental for 1 year for almost twice what the normal rent would have been, then ended up selling the house to the corporate renter. 

I actually think I have missed the best time as an investor which was probably 3 - 4 years ago but there is still tons of potential IMO.As we always hear the best time to invest is when the market is depressed and has not reached full potential.Thanks

(It's in a depressed area so market rent is not a huge amount more than what they are getting anyway.) and the check has been in the mailbox on or before the first of the month without fail for decades and they do a lot of the repairs themselves.  

Even though low income salaries will be depressed for the lack of low skill level jobs (due to the export of manufacturing), I am guessing that government payouts are going to increase substantially.