For a person like me who is looking to invest with 15-20 years of horizon, should I invest in cash flow positive properties or in a property which will appreciate faster?

However, I'm looking to broaden my horizons, and I'm curious, to those who have a solid understanding of the financial side, how did you learn about it best?

I sold a lot of my dirt when I saw what was on the horizon. 

.- What is my time horizon to hold? 

With the demographics showing a steady stream of people into the market I would expect solid returns going forward with a long term horizon.  

With inflation on the horizon, I think that hard assets and long-term fixed rate debt are the places to be.

students deserve nice places to live. we aren't trying to be slumlords but i do realize that students probably have slightly lower expectations than other types of tenants, so i feel we wont need to break the bank in the level of finishing details like we did on our own home but we will provide housing that is clean and safe and attractive. also thinking we can use some creative materials and methods to make the units party-proof. maybe we get lucky and find some long term professors or grad students and don't have to do annual turnover on every unit. even so, i budgeted 8% for property management after watching david greene's webinar yesterday.the heloc would allow for an easy down payment and a nice buffer for rehab, and i have 750+ credit score and good wage earning history, so i think a conventional loan should not be a problem to obtain. a cash out refi might be an option on the horizon if we decide to really crank a proper rehab but the units (from the pictures i saw) are livable as-is.should i be more specific here on the address/market to get better help?

First CommonwealthFirst Midwest, up to 90% Chicago areaFirst Republic - CaliforniaFulton BankGFA Federal Credit Union 10 yr draw, 10 yr repay, MAGranite State CU, NH 90-100%Great Lakes Credit Union Veritex , Texas HELOCHSBC 70%, for premier clients only Horizon, Kalamazoo MichiganHuntington 75% LTV 5 yr IO product available Hurst Lending and Insurance Investment property HELOC in Texas.

The 1031 works best with properties you have a long horizon for. 

They're not untapped markets, but for long term growth in values and rents, I think few markets have held up as well as over the 40 or 60 year time horizons (to date) as New York City and California (especially San Francisco and Los Angeles).