Also, the middle class has been shrinking by 11% since the 70s and that trend is continuing -> more tenants for me.

Strategies I have usedOnly buy in rising markets, the trend is you friend. 

No matter how anyone phrases it, to me someone that is 60 or pushing 60, and is married, and still does not own their own home and has to rent in the edge of the ghetto has not made good use of their finances over time.

The common phrase I've heard over the years is the best time to buy real estate "was 10 years ago".If you buy with cash flow and have financing that doesn't have a short-term balloon, you should be able to ride out any storm and be positive on the other side.

If you're looking to maximize cash flow and catch an up trend I think it's 3-5 years late for places like UT and TX

If I was going to flip a home I buy the most trendy kitchen style as that speaks for wanting or walking away from viewing a house these days.

*new roof*interior and exterior paint*new flooring*updated electrical system*opened up doorway between dinning room and living room*all new kitchen (cabinets, stainless steal appliances, granite countertops)*trendy board and batten window shuttersThe top selling points were the beautifully tiled bathrooms and kitchen backsplash.

Subway tile is very trendy and fail safe, but not my personal choice to use.

We found same materials at less cost in other stores more focussed on volume sales than have large expenses with a trendy show room.

Just throwing that out there in case, like me, you've never heard that phrase.