I'm not sure of the local job market etc, but maybe someone who wants to save on rent would pay a couple hundred a month to bring in their camper/RV/Travel Trailer to stay in the area for cheap...that's about it I think.  

I also had very long vacancies during unit turnover (2-3 months)I think you will find that there is very little incentive to rent as there are plenty of nice apartment complexes that have amenities that a SFR or Duplex can't offer and the cheap house prices mean someone can buy a house instead of renting.  

And to go for appreciation if you're going to look out of state, meaning don't buy cheap Class C properties OOS for the "cash flow on paper".

When fuel prices rose, it wrecked the economy --hence the strong correlation between cheap fuel and dollar value. 

You can buy duplexes relatively cheap here in Columbus, so they will cash flow great.

The appraisal fee sounded high but I trusted the broker when he told me it was considered cheap as costs had gone up.

It is tough to buy the homes cheap enough to where you can then rehab them and sell them at a profit. 

Here in AZ, you can generally piece together those subcontractors at pretty cheap rates, so unless you need an acutal GC for permits being pulled, etc...

But, those were SFHs & cheap ones at that.

A combination of mortgage notes for cash flow and desirable properties in high appreciation areas (not cheap, undesirable properties in the Midwest.)