As a homeowner, I can’t help but feel a bit hopeful that home prices may decline, making it easier for us to purchase additional properties.

There will be stagflation MSA's, there will be appreciating MSA's, some declining MSA's and some MSA's that will look a lot like iterations of a crash or collapse. 

However, be careful of markets where people are leaving and population is declining. 

Have a family member whose health is rapidly declining.

Therefore, if the housing market has stagnated or the rental market is in decline, it may be wise to cut your losses and sell the property.

If your area has a good long-term rental outlook and you have the patience to deal with tenant issues, this could be a smart move.I’d lean slightly toward renting unless you’re getting strong signals that property values won’t appreciate or rents may decline.

And I would probably look at the smaller houses where you can keep your unit costs down but still rent them at a higher price point relatively speaking. you are arguing one asset class. build a new hotel anywhere in America on any soil it's better than any apartment complex you can own. lower cost per sq ft than type 1 buildings and higher exit. we just ran into that and hotel is way better use after a rezoning application got declined for apartments. hotel is looking much better 

Next, I would like to uncover what has rent growth / decline looked like in that city / area overall.

I declined and marked it as Spam on VRBO.  

I know that everyone talks about the declining value of Japanese Real Estate.