But buying at retail value simply based on the hope that values will continue to rise is like gambling.

The point is, it's a gamble.

I owned a bar with an apartment in the Dominican Republic when I went to college and It was so frustrating to be so far away and have to rely on local boots on the ground to relay data (in fact the manager spent all my cash for the project on a gambling Christmas cocaine party, ended up in jail and my boat got stolen by some Haitians trying to migrate to Florida but thats a whole different story).

The deal was up 70% in 2 years which was a great 35% ROI a year but I think the GP wanted to gamble and go for the 120% in four years which people can argue if it was the right choice in this sellers market.

Unless you know exactly when the next dip in the market will be you could be attempting to gamble on that and lose if nothing happens for awhile.

Looking forward to equity is one thing, but anticipating appreciation is tantamount to gambling.

Then gamble await - - even a blind pig finds a truffle once in a while.

Mike thank you for the reply, the gamble is whether the 60K houses would drop significantly which I believe not. 

Anything else is on the same level with gambling.

Some risk is OK, but too much is gambling.