Somewhat of an art and a science to predicting the growth and how to act on it.

Yardi Matrix has predicted we will also be the #1 rental growth market in the nation in 2017 with 10% year-on-year growth, and 8.5% growth next year.For some anecdotes, in the past couple months I've met a handful of clients who are all young couples that are professionals in their late 20's & early 30's, and are leaving the uber-expensive Bay Area and are looking to settle down here in Sacramento where housing is more affordable.Sacramento offers enough of a "big city feel" for Bay Area residents and has several colleges, major sports teams, an international airport, etc.

I mean, I guess if you predict something bad will happen in the "future" sooner or later you will be right.  

Then there's no surprises, and if there is, unless it's material to the job - i.e. something that couldn't be predicted about the floors beforehand - it comes out of their profit. 

I should have mentioned that i don't expect people to predict the future :) just looking for comparisons of now vs. 2008. 

@David Faulkner  I don't disparage SFRs, but do understand the principles used for Comps vs Economic Appraisals, which clearly you do not-- CapRates are a derived number and do not predict a FMV. 

Have you been able to predict your net worth months and years in advance via a detailed spreadsheet?  

I have looked far and wide across reaches of the web for calculators to to help me predict specific timelines, depending on my investment strategy. ( be it aggressive, conservative or somewhere in between) I found a few, but nothing to my liking, so I made my own.

What it boils down to - study, work the market and pay with time, cash, sweat and tears for experience or partner with somebody and take less for possibly more predictable outcome.

If we were to assume that you're a true investor and are looking for deals below market rate, it is possible that this 42k could net you maybe two more, but there's no predicting that without deal details of course.