Home prices will likely vary by region, with modest increases in areas of high demand and stable job markets, while others may stabilize or decline.

Each property comes with its own set of risks and every investor must understand those risks and do the minimum - get 3rd party inspections, 3rd party appraisals, verify rents, jobs  and crime rates at city-data.com - before buying.

I work a full time job at a wood shop building custom cabinetry.

Today we are economically diverse and showing job growth in several sectors.Having said that, I am not an economist (or a fortune teller) so these are just my thoughts after having gone through the Great Recession and knowing how housing-dependent we were then.Melanie

But move into a retirement "job" for Sean. 

There are several different types of income in the US tax code.Two main types are “active income” and “passive income".Active income is money you earn from working, such as wages from a W-2 job or income from running a business.Passive income is money you earn from investments like real estate, stocks, or rental income from your RE portfolio where you earn $ without actively working.Normally, you can't use passive losses (like losses from real estate investments) to offset active income like your salary from a W-2 job.That is unless you are an RE Pro.The reality is, that Real Estate Pro status is just a filing status similar to filing married or jointly.And if you are a real estate professional you CAN use passive real estate losses to offset active income from other sources.To qualify as an RE Pro you must:1.

We also do not allow the tenant to patch holes or touch up the paint, because they usually do a terrible job that takes longer and costs more to fix. 

Great job James, cheers!

@Jonathan Small Nice job on this find and completion.

They absolutely hate that part of the job.