But if I use $50k to pay off an existing mortgage, there’s an increase of about $500/m instantly.

We are custom home builders and as such have instant equity in all our deals with a current YTD vacancy rate of .7 and ,4% in both existing categories.

While I don't have a silver bullet for instant and updated details, these sites are helpful.http://www.city-data.comhttps://factfinder.census.gov/https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/united-states/qui...This one is dated at this point, but was good and I am sure can be referenced in a pinch.http://www.governing.com/gov-data/economy-finance/...

I’ve been using Podio as my foundational tool because of the flexibility to add marketing resources, track my performance and get the vital data that I need on a property within an instant.

There're lot more value in real estate even if one think it from long term investment.You can't sleep with your 9999999 SPY call, if market crash your 999999 call goes to zero instantly if you dont hedge it correctly.but one can sleep  wellwith your very own 99k house LOL :)The value is very different.

All of a sudden I hear " You must be the Baldwins Come on out of the car " instantly the wife says close your eyes and stay in the car .Not knowing what was going on I looked at the wife then looked at the lady 70+ years old standing BUCK NAKED !!!

We have all been fairly lucky over the last 10 years or so, but you're right a hurricane can wipe out a park instantly, especially if you're in a tidal zone prone to storm surges from past hurricanes.There are risks like this everywhere though - tornadoes happen across the midwest and earthquakes on the west coast.  

At $500 a month It would take 21 years to balance out the $130k that I could have access instantly by selling

I am personally doing this in Sarasota right now in a SFR with an ADU that has separate electric meters, more than paying my current mortgage along with water bill and lawn care, but with only a projected 8% return when I move out, but I bought it well over $50k lower than market value so instant equity gain/wedge off the top as well. 

An opportunity to have instant cashflow arose and it couldn't be passed up.