Interest rates will being increasing and prices are rising in most markets, so you are taking a big gamble. 4.

@Mike McKinzie  Oh no you cant really be thinking about appreciation.. that's gambling.. that's speculation , that's icing on the cake LOL.. unfortunately  your thought process and mine are very much a minority thought process on BP.BP tends to be cash flow first foremost and always.. to the point that beginning investors actually believe it and take the risk chasing very high paper yields with no clue the risk they are taking. 

In 4 years time, I am gambling on my condo appreciation quite a bit.

Youd see the guy out and about, and he was just a free man running all the drugs and gambling in town.

I LOL'd when I realized this was an April Fool's prank.But my laughter quickly turned into uncontrollable wailing as I realized that once again, I'll probably have a better luck finding an A-class property that meets the 4% rule, with appreciation using no money down in Detroit than I will of finding my true love!

Are you a risk taker willing to gamble on appreciation?

The question to ask yourself is: can you AFFORD to pay extra every month on average (on top of getting zero cash return on your deposit), while GAMBLING on its appreciation?

I think @Mike Dymski brought up what may be the biggest uncontrollable variable which is having a consistently good PM.

(I have had tenants turn the AC off when they move out or the heat in winter)- We require they have someone check on the property if they leave it for more than 5 days (This is to make sure there are no water leaks or HVAC issues that lead to problems while they are gone)- No businesses can be run from the property (to prevent day care, laundry services, gambling, drugs or who knows what)- We specify yard care includes week spraying and cleaning up sticks less than 1" in diameter (otherwise tenants think yard care is mowing only)- We state that tenants utilities can be used for routine maintenance or repairs (I once had a tenant complain the roofers were using his power for their compressors)- We have a whole section on mold stating that mold is naturally occurring and results from excess moisture.

Appreciation is nice, but uncontrollable and NOT guaranteed.