It’s wise to start with breaking even and ensure you're comfortable with the costs involved.Happy to connect if you'd like to discuss more!

I personally don't see prices changing much until something seriously breaks.

There is an offer to buy but if I include everything I've spent over the years, mortgage P&I, taxes, insurance, HOA, and recent repairs, I will just break even.

If you want less competition you will need to get property that is more distressed (and you will still have to pay up over the flippers who want those), or you will need to search when no one else is searching.....ie both of my SD properties were purchased between Thanksgiving and Christmas (when everyone else is celebrating you need to put in offers).   

This news sent the deal’s value into a tailspin.At this point, I was looking at barely breaking even.

To rent the home, I would lose about $2,500 per month (based on comparable rents in my area, property management fees, etc).Both options loose the same amount by roughly 2 years, and by this time, I still will not have built up much more equity in the home to make selling it a break even unless there is price appreciation by then.My dilemma is this: I speculate that my home will not appreciate much in the next 3-5 years due to the rapid pace of development in the surrounding area.In 5-10+ years, maybe, but by then I'll have bled $150,000 - $300,000.I have thought about this a lot and feel that I mar'-too close to the problem to see the best solution.

The new property has to make $50k plus $12k/yr more than the existing property just to break even.

Some banks can spread your funds around to multiple banks if you carry a balance over $250k and want to have all the necessary FDIC insurance…merry Christmas!

i would not buy a random property in Alabama that you find on Zillow and turn it over to people you've never met just because the price point is appealing.here are some threads on how that can go:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1160450-run-i...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/1215726-break...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1137397-balti...i own property in 3 states - happy to answer any questions you have.

Sometimes life happens faster than you think (weddings, job changes, market shifts), so it helps to know your break even point in case you need to move on sooner rather than later.