I see so many of my peers spend money on rent in "trendy" areas of DFW to gain nothing in return.

The area of town is very trendy and rental homes are sought after in this area.

Now, it's all grown up with fancy restaurants and trendy music festivals and pricey tourist traps.  

Wholesalers seem to be popping up like wild mushrooms all over the place now, what a trendy business, most of them are operating illegally or simply have no clue what they are doing, this is not a blanket statement, there are a small handful that actually are doing it the right way, but this is a very small fraction in regards to the overall "wholesaler" population.

Though bars on the windows may be considered "trendy", I'm sure you'd feel right at home in the areas that I mentioned. 

Courtsey - https://www.cio.com/article/3219718/the-13-best-value-cities-for-hiring-tech-talent.htmlhttps://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/07/this-is-the-top-city-for-small-business-in-the-us-study.htmlhttps://www.crainsdetroit.com/other-voices/attracting-tech-companies-would-help-diversify-economyhttps://www.innovationleader.com/top-10-us-cities-for-corporate-innovation/top-10-cities-for-corporate-innovation/1055.articleSo the Population trend is reversing as multiracial millennials are moving into the core areas, partly due to affordability and also due to employment opportunities, and the next consensus in 2020 should give us a good indication of this. 

It just sounds like a nice, trendy mobile home to me.

I just finished BP podcast ep. 48 and the guest gave a lot of good advice, but one piece he gave that stuck out is that he buys durable materials that aren't just "trendy".

The trend is going the other way with fewer homeowners.

Those are "black swan" events and are unpredictable.http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/2011-Case-SHiller-updated.pngOther than those events, there were small ups and downs, but the overall trend is clear: inflation drives price appreciation.Now, that neglects local effects, which can be huge.