In life you have mentors, friends, business partners, family and other key influences that help you evolve and it’s no different in real estate.

My first influence in pondering owning rentals was my best friend’s dad, back about 30 years ago.

Keep in mind this is really originating from inside Ukraine.Denial by Putin that the troops were his was simply a timing issue, delays for argument's sake.I'd say it has been well played by Putin, so far and I mentioned my guess concerning the end, at least in his moves of last resort as he has failed to influence the Ukraine with the EU.Reality is, there is nothing that could have been done or can be done by force as to our reaction.

@James LehmannThe classic tome is "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.  

I think a lot of great points have been made in this thread, and it definitely represents a great cross-section of great investors, but it's interesting to note how the different markets have influenced the investors. i.e.

You need to keep your market in mind and not be over-influenced with great looking (and expensive) designs.  

With that came their influence and control over the appearance of the town, entry corridors, preservation districts, code restrictions, etc., etc.

Failing to identify these differences will skew your analysis as valuation is not strictly a math formula of square footage costs and adjusting for amenities.These influences will be magnified as you move further away from the subject property.

In my opinion it does influence them to re-tenant the property every year, and never sign more than a 1 year lease.

In the middle...there's a lot more going on to influence values.