Agreed. it does depend on the area and you have to play the hand dealt.

For a buy and hold strategy, you're offer will be based on what you can rent a house for (unless you want to play the appreciation game) Homeowners debt, the value of the house, and how much you can buy the house for are three separate figures, obviously the amount you offer them is contingent on what you think you can sell it for; and what they will accept as an offer is contingent on what they owe on the house.In some states when a lender forecloses, and there is a surplus after selling the house, the former owner can apply for these overages, never been there, don't know he process.I'm not even sure if I answered what you were asking, your post was a little confusing.AndrewEdit: Trying to clarify my thoughts, still confused rereading OP

Must be scare tactics in play...?The

It's a great way to scale your portfolio provided you play the game right and analyze all of your numbers.

They have an extensive sales pitch though... anyone can say they are making millions of dollars, play the part wear a fake rolex etc.

Find the right one and play the long game!

But in reality, only a small percentage of people are willing and able to play the game, so there's enough to go around and there's no need to rush.Second, the ongoing cashflow vs appreciation question/debate is, well, puzzling, because I think it's pretty much been settled by David Greene, the host of the BP podcast.

My advice to you is to play the long game. 

I did a lot of reading over the years to figure out how to invest money, how to play the bankers game, how to start and run businesses.

@Laura GuyReally we just need to educate people that by pushing all the risk and responsibility onto the property owners and no responsibility on tennants only increases the cost of housing and further pushes it into the hands of institutions that will never have an incentive to work with tennants or be responsive to them.The states with the most regulations have highest costs for those respective goods.The government's job is to setup the sandbox then let the kids play. The