Our country is either going to fall in like sheep, or there is a revolution on the horizon.

One last question to end on : What do you see on the five-year horizon for the Austin REI market -- i.e. small corrections to pricing trends, large pricing crises, or continued rise in value?

If only there was something better on the horizon....   :-)

What is your investment horizon or timeline?

If you think like Warren Buffet and have an investment horizon of forever, if you invest in index funds, and this particular REIT, you will have more money than when you started when its time to pass your investments along to the next generation. 

If your time horizon is decades and this asset type doesn't hit the market much, this may be ok.  

Have there been any special assessments in the past, or are there any red flags that could indicate a special assessment on the horizon?

But at the same time, a long time horizon more or less takes out some of the concern as to whether today or tomorrow is a good time to buy.Seems to me its prudent to be cautious on whether to buy, but at the same time I dont see any reason to stop all together because you are worried about a correction.

It's hard to see prices dropping with the inventory being so low with no surge increase in inventory that I can picture on the near horizon. 

Do not let a number get in your way of expanding your investment horizon, but most importantly make sure to consider the risk involved, regardless of the level of participation.