My point is simply that those that seek to exploit will always be 1 step ahead.

I am all for making money - i am not all for investors destroying the fabric of a city or neighboorhoods just for a good ROINobody has a right to blatant exploitation and i find it funny that folks are screaming “socialism” when 10 years ago no one even knew any of this STR stuff was possible. 

On the topic of probate, few people really exploit the opportunity to "think outside the casket" and use seller financing, and instead miss the opportunity by using cash. 

"they want to avoid legal battles and thus will be great tenants"    Isn't that exploitation?  

Any mutual fund tracking the S&P 500 will have that same average performance over a long period of time.The only way you can claim a 12% annual return is by starting in 1970, and exploiting the big bull market of the 70s, imo that is not reflective of history, I find this 9.77% pre tax calculation accurate...http://financeandinvestments.blogspot.com/2012/06/historical-annual-returns-for-s-500.htmlBut using your 12% number which does not factor in income taxes on gains, I come up with $1,440.011 after 50 years.

I reinvested something like $200,000 of quickly earned money back into more online marketing stuff which all fell flat on its face.July 2009 rolls around and my first daughter is born, I build the greatest desktop I have ever seen, and a really bad WordPress exploit hits the internet and I lose every single website overnight.

We do not need BP to get "exposure" to real estate through the stock market.We DO need BP to to learn how to directly invest in real estate and leverage it's potential to be life changing - by exploiting inefficient real estate markets and taking advantage of value-add opportunities in real estate. 

I'm sure you encountered many naysayers but you found yourself a niche and exploited it.

The trick in the REI game is exploiting your knowledge, skills, or labor to find ways for your risk adjusted rate of return to be higher than the Bank's.

Making a profit in the world, if you exclude the generation of new ideas or inventions, or holding a monopoly on a necessity, usually means exploiting and leveraging the inefficiencies in a system for personal gain.