Traditionally, the economy is more resource-based - particularly in the smaller communities - and we have an ageing population (the young have been streaming to Alberta for a generation, then returning east to retire).Now about that market correction, it's been overdue for a few years, but the current trajectory continues to diverge from the underlaying economic fundamentals which should make folks more cautious when analysing prospects.

I really appreciate you taking the time to lay out some of the basic, but crucial fundamentals that I need to decide on.

I think i tackled most of the fundamental ones, Napoleon Hill, Stephan Covey, Hal Elrod. 

IMO, apartment syndications are a safe bet, w/ typically higher returns than you’re looking for as long as you work with a syndicator w/ a proven track record, the asset is in a fundamentally stable/growing market/sub market and you confirm the assumptions used to underwrite the deal.  

I also understand that at a basic level it's the interaction between the real estate purchase market and rental market supply and demand curves which drive attributes like price to rent ratios in a given area.My question is, how do those two related supply/demand curves interact at a fundamental level and what are the common characteristics or reasons a market maintains a good price to rent ratio?

Fundamentally it seems that a majority of realtors don't understand that any property that produces income should be priced using the net operating income method.

I really wish the basic fundamentals of home ownership, investing in real estate and financial independence were taught in school.

@Sean Bramble There is a fundamental saying in real estate investing ‘You make money when you buy, not when you sell’

Biggerpockets helped us compile a lot of information and learn the fundamentals.

The Fed tried to stimulate lending by dropping rates, which should have increased the pool of buyers and therefore curtailed the growth of, or in fact reduced, rental rates relative to what they would have been immediately after the crash, and perhaps suppressed growth of rental rates since that point.The oddest thing about the graph comparing rent rates to home prices, though, is that rent rates continue at a steady clip almost completely irrespective of home prices, which leads me to believe that the types of consumers demanding homes are fundamentally different from the types of consumers demanding to rent.