this PDX market built 8 to 10 thousand new door homes a year from early 90s to 2007.. 2008  700 permits total  next year about 1500 next year 3k and so on.. so by the time the banks started doing spec lending here about 4 years ago and demand never diminished we found ourselves with a critical housing shortage and all the big national builders moved in because they can self fund.. us little guys were stuck.. with lack of market liquidity.. so anyway I have gotten about 100 homes built in the last 5 years personally and all have made profit not as good as Charleston but still a profit and much easier than flix and flip... which I used to do a ton of but don't do much or any anymore the new builds are far more predictable and I have NO where near the competition from smaller investors.. that competition is squarely in the fix and flip space.. and is brutal in this area.what this also did when new construction halted and once things stabilized coming out of 2012 or so. rents went up 50 to 100% so landlords we held through the down turn PDX even though it was a neutral cash flow market or typical west coast low cap market some of those guys have killed it.. 

Even S8 tenants don't seem to destroy tile, and you can have the same tile in place for 20 years if you put in a nice neutral color.

Keep in mind that this almost always happens in a somewhat neutral environment (listing agents office).

If yes, then you have a good indication of a loose neutral wire. 

Some Cities have courts that are more pro tenant, some Cities have more neutral courts.

As a side comment, remember to be most effective, dress neutrally and leave your cell phone on silent when talking with people so they feel you are 100% present during conversations.

Instead of trying to do everything right by renovating a fixer-upper, it would've been a lot easier to buy something that was already done and just not make any mistakes (do preventative maintenance, keep the house painted neutral colors etc.) and just wait a few years for the market to do its work. 

I purchased the property and painted it a more neutral gray, fixed some of the warn down baseboards, replaced some really ugly window fixtures and stained the kitchen cabinets a natural wood color (all in around $4k of work some self performed some contracted).

The units that sell (not as listed) typically pencil out as cash positive or neutral after taking into account all expenses (and I use a high cap expense). 

Just like Real Estate, you can profit in a bull, a bear, or a neutral market.