If you find someone who calls themselves an investor and lends money regularly as a side line, that's not private money, they are just part time hard money lender types.Private money is had at 5% not 15%, granny doesn't get anything from her CDs.Now, Susan may have some marketing spiel to present to granny, but I can tell you that people with money can spot a spiel or pitch a mile off.

I'm staying on the sidelines mainly because I think there will be a major selloff/correction soon.

To me it was a side line hobby.

You see, no one knows if a reduction in price is just a correction or a recession so when prices dip 5, 10, 15%, money that was on the sidelines, jumps in thinking they are about to scoop up some investments at a discount.

I was looking for something instead of sitting on the sidelines.   

@Melanie Stephens I have made multiple mistakes that literally sidelined me from real estate investing like owning my 1st rental property and managing it poorly and selling it.

People have been screaming recession since 2012 - the ones on the sideline missed significant growth opportunities both in real estate and stock market.

I'd rather take the 401k loan than sit on the sidelines, but that's just my opinion because I am not the hugest fan of the stock market.

You can never win if you stay on the sidelines, as they say.

@Brian SinghMy guess is SF price will be down 10%-15% by 2022, so I am on the sideline..That said, my observation from 2009-2011 is that by the time the market hits the bottom, the listings are all bad - bad locations, bad floor plan, bad whatever....So if you want a quality property (like me), you might have to get in sometime in 2021 before the market hits the bottom, and be willing to pay a bit more, knowing the price will drop more...