My appreciation rates are based on decades of data and yes it fluctuates but duplicates itself in every decade.Rents are good and needed for most people but I know a few people that never rent and walk away with hundreds of thousands of dollars in appreciation.The thing about relying solely on rents is that if you are not a good landlord/manager you have no profit.  

No nonsense coverage and they are very familiar with landlords.I'm sure prices will fluctuate wildly based on where your property is located, property age, the deductable you choose, amount of liability, and other endorsements (loss of rent, personal property coverage, etc) but for a 3-family in NE Ohio with $150K ACV the premium is about $980/year.

And like you said, that small advantage likely disappears in 5 years, at which point this may very quickly become a poorly performing investment.Additionally, the higher downpayment gives you more room to adjust your rents to fluctuations in the market or area, giving you some more insurance for positive cash flow.

Do any necesssry repairs and that’s really it.The electric bill will fluctuate up and down depending on the season.

It's a challenging question to answer for agents because it fluctuates significantly from month to month and even year to year.

You are not so much concerned about how the pricing of homes fluctuates.  

If your strategy is buy and hold and your numbers work you may not have to worry about short term market fluctuations.  

When evaluating vacant lots in New Jersey how do you know if the lot is a good deal when the prices seem to fluctuate so much for similar properties?

Next easiest is a stable/normal market,  since estimating is easier (not much fluctuation) and "errors" can be covered by time.

My advice is continue to watch home values fluctuate and jump when prices drop.