Rate buy downs are a band aid like you claim. they are sold with the idea that rates will be lower in the future when your buydown expires and you will be able to refinance it into a fixed rate. that has been the major push since rates began spiking. its gambling on the future interest rates being lower, therefore, it allows a larger pool of homebuyers to be able to afford higher prices with temporary lower interest rates, so logically home prices wont budge much, still enough to be down in most markets based on the aforementioned article, and by even your own market, real estate has not beaten inflation the last 12 months. 

Either self-manage like many on here do, or hire an inexpensive offshore PM who works US hours & speaks eloquent English (that’s what I do).

Either self-manage like many on here do, or hire an inexpensive offshore PM who works US hours & speaks eloquent English (that’s what I do).

If you have a lot of cash (millions and millions), you can sometimes gamble by just buying and holding forever.

I'm sure there are 1-off examples of success, but that's not the norm.And this isn't to shoot down North Lawndale - there are opportunities to invest in the current market/conditions, but to expect gentrification is a huge gamble.

Hence, you're asking for gambling advice from someone on the internet. 

If you intend to pay it off soon and retain the property then it's a gamble if you should have it or not.  

Your gambling on an appraiser. 

Given it is harder to find deals that are worth pursing from an underwriting perspective, but we are not comfortable with gambling with our investor's capital with that uncertainty. 

Well, first off anyone who bids 1% is gambling on the fact that the owner will redeem the property and NOT go over 3 years.