Investing money in a volatile marketplace with no collateral is a recipe for disaster. 

There are a lot of good fundamentals: population growth, several stable industries (federal government, universities), one more volatile industry with major possible upsides (oil/gas), and most important for the real estate investor, attractive price rent ratios, especially as compared to larger urban areas.The major thing I've seen that gives me pause is that rents seem like they've been pretty much flat for the past several years, presumably following the oil/gas price crash.

The downside is that these assets are volatile, especially in the short term.

In fact, as long as you don't over-leverage yourself or do dumb things (i.e. sell when the market is down) RE seems quite a bit less volatile than the alternatives -- I say this as someone who weathered the 2007 crisis. 

@Kenisha Chapple,Well, when I talk private lenders, I'm usually talking about people you've met - or even your own friends and family - who would like better, safer, less volatile returns on the retirement money, for example.

In our area, rents are far less volatile than RE values are, so we try to buy properties that will cash flow no matter what.

But you will ultimately risk less volatility and certainly better appreciation long term in the northwest vs south side. 

The savvy DSCR loan borrower will use all the options available to optimize terms, especially in volatile rate environments like today, where every little bit of rate matters in securing profitable investments!

Covid has made the lending markets a little volatile, but you shouldn't have trouble finding a lender.

While inflation and volatile mortgage rates still make purchasing a challenge, the increase in inventory paired with the slowdown in price increases give buyers a leg up as they seek to secure homes before winter.