Everything changed for me when I picked up my first book.One of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned is the value of compound effort.

Higher property taxes compound the expense for buyers, making affordability harder to achieve.

I'd be willing to place a nice little bet that, from current prices and rents, SFO experience higher compound annual price growth and higher compounding annual rent growth, than Austin TX, over the next 5 years.Could be wrong, but it's always a bet when we forecast more than about 12 months out, right? 

Some jurisdictions recognize this and allow large number of ADUs which compounds the NIMBY against ADUs.

That information and expertise also compounds over time.It's easy to be envious of investors in other markets that have seen massive spikes in appreciation, but we only see that in hindsight. 

For real estate investors who are investing in debt financed real estate, or real estate syndication, the ability to invest with a 401(k) Roth, avoiding UBIT/UDFI and compounding tax-free growth, can be really powerful! 

This issue gets compounded since many investors don't know how to spot an unrealistic bid.

This is especially important if you're on the younger side, as those returns can compound significantly over the next few decades.I'm in a small real estate mastermind group, and we all did this exercise with our own portfolios and identified underperforming properties and equity to reposition, and presented it the group for feedback.

The advantage to real estate is that you can compound equity using leverage. 

While it’s a helpful quick filter, the bigger picture—appreciation, tax benefits, loan paydown, and compounding growth—often tells a much better story over 5-10 years.The key is balancing cash flow and long-term gains.