You could almost call it inter-city migration - driven by school districts, property taxes and crime rates - growth and appreciation fluctuate a lot around the city.   

The market has way to many fluctuations because of the military.

Have higher valued properties fluctuated much in Ozark Missouri?   

Plus, not knowing how the market & economy can fluctuate in the future, it may be nice to have some of that padded equity to lean on if needed.My overall goal is to continue growing my current (and future potential) cash flow ($$), not necessarily maximize ROI or cash-on-cash return.  

It fluctuates.

I can handle market fluctuation because that just means more people looking to rent.

The Managers are able to capture a margin by the following:- lower operational costs than the Owner has (their own staff to do cleaning, lower fees on booking sites like VRBO/Airbnb/etc by having premium subscripts/being a super host)- higher occupancy rates than the Owner typically has- Higher rates/Dynamic pricing (a number of Managers use algorithms that fluctuate the nightly/weekly rates based on supply and demand of the market)Let me know it that helps, I'm happy to elaborate on anything else.- Tanner

Is real estate something someone is looking to be in long-term FOR SURE or is it just a present idea that could fluctuate? 

Interest fluctuates from 5.0 to 5.5% with no point and 20 years fixed with no early payoff penalty.  

My goal is to have my first deal done by the end of February (I'll start in Jan) and to have 12 wholesaling deal in 2013.Long term I want to buy-fix-hold 1-2 properties per year, not leveraging myself too much to minimize risk from market fluctuations.