Profit can ONLY occur when a check is cashed and as such, until you sell the home, the "equity" remains sitting in the walls of the home and that very eqity can diminish over time (depreciation) or increase (appreciation).I don't think any of us have an argument to this.

My experience with sending letters to probate properties is the response will greatly diminish after the third letter.

One is that the frothiness of the real estate market has diminished somewhat.

The carrying costs diminish profits.  

The Federal Tax Credits are on a diminishing scale starting in 2019.I am in the solar industry for full disclosure. 

Collect-ability can be can be diminished if collection efforts over time did not persist.  

This morning I read an article posted on MSN.com regarding whether or not Detroit will receive a government bailout to help improve the diminished economy of the Motor City.  

I found that I only want to add a certain number of homes at a given $/home because my return on cash diminishes the more homes I add. 

I was told to never go to an auction do to the testosterone flying around who's  going to win....there goes your profit ( I'm the man)! 

I love the idea that you understand the concept of Return on Equity (ROE) and that as your equity in an investment increases, if your cashflow doesn't keep up then your REO diminishes and you have to make a decision about "moving" your equity into another investment.