Many things play into the national economy and global economy, real estate being one slice of a very big pie. 

...Re-Repairs ... handyman charging 2-3 times market rate fixes the problem with bubble gum and duct tape (if at all) and surprise, it breaks again in a couple months.

Remember this was 2009 in the midst of the Global Financial Crisis, and everyone was getting laid off or working their rear off in fear of getting canned. 

Welcome to BP.And your initial deposit has been earning you ~$35k per year on average ever since - despite the diversion of a global financial crisis in the middle of that!

Great question and this would have a couple answers depending on the following;* You Global DTI with the acquisition of the secondary home* How much do you have available to place down* Do you have plans of renting it all or is it rented now* Do you plan to buy a personal home soon - This would go back to your Global DTI with the acquisition of the secondary home* Can the home be your primary home since you are living in a current residence without a leaseLet me know if you have any questions via pmRegards,Joe Scorese

Think of it this way lets say we have a house gum ball machine and all the houses in the area that are similar condition etc are put in this gumball machine. and you turn the gumball house machine of doom an one gumball comes out. is your one of your gumball more or less likely to come out if you have 1 or 5 in the machine. 

If you try to skip a step and use a finer grit it will just gum up and you will spend a lot in paper.

Once you touch the MLS, you are under a different set of ethical rules and assignment fees don't work, but your buyers list has just went global.  ...but then again, why did you get your license in the first place?  

Although it is a dream to own my own vacation home on the beach somewhere (despite knowing and believing in the effects of global warming), I don't feel it is the appropriate direction to go initially with REI.

It would be nice (convenient) if local but I have also worked on globally distributed teams for years so I know that can work just fine as well.