I have an unorthodox profession(professional gambling) that has allowed me to stockpile a great amount of start up capital and I hope to slowly start to transition into real estate to build long term wealth.

@Gurjot Grewal what if you took the gamble and had an inspector go out before they accepted your contract?

We're all gambling with respect to an unknown future. 

You say: "Investing" for appreciation is NOT investing, it's speculating (read: gambling).Are you saying almost all stock investing, which is almost entirely based on appreciation is gambling?

Unless you're gambling with timing markets and going big during down times, real estate is a long-term buy-and-hold strategy.

Feels like gambling to me.

Only one person I have ever met made it from zero when we first spoke to 1400 units and built an actual business.I think the next 5 to 10 years will be interesting; I expect prices to keep rising to unexpected levels along with the dollar (and debt) loosing value - until legislation and builders can ramp up production to fill the backlog and match demand.Agreed BP is cash flow is everything anything else is gambling so we all have that pounded into our bp posts. 

If you're a beginner this is a risky gamble though.

REI isn't gambling if done correctly. 

Obviously buying a home without an inspection is a gamble.