Forbes called it recession proof.

Which in turn caused governments across the world to have to provide that funding.RE investors got shafted because as the country went into recession, people couldn't make rents, landlords could not make their mortgage payments.Here's the thing you will disagree with me about - everyone blames bankers, everyone calls their behavior criminal, yet what was so virtuous about re investors and individuals putting in what Jay calls Liar Loans?

It wasn't always that way, the recession was tough.

With this in mind they can leave the money in a bank account but with inflation they are losing 2-3% doing nothing, invest in the stock market but your volatility is riskier even with blue chip stocks going up and down a few percents a day and you can have something like the 08 recession where half your wealth is gone, and finally you have real estate where you can park your money and concentrate on cash flow. 

A couple years ago during the great recession maybe, but the market is back now so the decent duplexes in C-Grade areas are going to run you $75kish & in B-Grade areas they will be $100-120k+

But after I submitted yet another loan application, I found out they will only lend based on what we originally paid for the properties back during the recession, not the current appraised value.

Even that REI likes to do 5-10 BRRRR's per year, builds a handful of spec homes (likes new construction duplexes), some fix/flilp for quick sale and is even wholesaling 30 deals per year.Fix/flip gets you faster cash (but taxed immediately), while BRRRR grows more slowly over years.Contrasted with a friend who used $225,000 cash to buy one rental duplex and likes the conservative (no debt) cash flow, the leveraged view allows you to grow exponentially, if as @Jd Martin says, you don't have a recession in the midst of growing your nest egg.Mrs.

the builder did not have a quota at the time I bought.I agree that is a very important thing to look out for especially when recession hits, investors may sell in droves or finding tenants (competing with other investors in a down market) would be tough.Nothing is easy and nothing is without dangers for sure.

I tracked it thought the Great Recession and the economy stayed strong, with unemployment never getting much above 6 percent, compared to more than 10% nationally.  

And it is a rare, very rare occasion where I have lowered rent even in a recession, so even if the value has declined and the rent has remained the same; I'm more likely to keep that property rather than sell.