however, it is how many folks get into investing and ultimately and hopefully they provide safe, clean and affordable housing for folks.....I see a pattern here from the non-landlords:Landlord makes $150/month, they're fools who deserve to go out of business.Landlord makes $500/month, they're thieves who deserve to go out of business.You can't win when you're dealing with irrational, uneducated people. 

They are looking for longer hold times, less risk, and steady cash flow, and are willing to accept a lower IRR (or don't even care about IRR at all) than the first type of investor.So the strategy is to acquire the property with investor type A, fix it up, raise rents, pump the value, and exit...but instead of exiting to a third-party, they recap with investor type B and hold the property for years or even decades. 

Just a short conversation with a mortgage pro, attorney or insurance broker can be extremely valuable - they will often teach us things we wouldn't know to ask about ("you don't know what you don't know").We also have to be careful about "irrational exuberance" and consider the potential downside to the markets. 

It cost us ~$3200 to furnish the 1:1 Air BnB space.Pictures of the Air BnB space:Deal numbers as of 1 year since purchase (April 10, 2021) Actual monthly income as of April 10, 2021 (1 year of ownership): $1,197/mo (I'm irrationally proud of how close my estimate was, but now I'd like to bump this up as high as possible) Home value (from Zillow): $287,160 ($23,160 appreciation, 8.7%) Total maintenance/upkeep for the space: ~$30/moNow, that CoC return is probably something to be scoffed at by a more senior investor, but please bring your mindset back to that of a beginner.

Irrational fear is the world's greatest marketing manipulation tool.

Fear is a driving factor in the market and as long as we keep hearing homes are scarce people will keep irrationally bidding up properties due to FOMO. 

I think last year we had an irrational run based on fear and don't think we'll see the same rapid run up in the near future but even the historical appreciation of the last 25 years driven by business and population growth is good for me!

People buying on the MLS will pay irrational amounts of money due to competition. 

Was it rehab, or (as I suspect) market forces that have RE prices irrationally high right now. 

Irrational human behavior is what gives us an edge, run your numbers, take as much guesswork out as you can and go for it if you find a solid deal.