Risky and speculative.

@Eugene Hoffman The whole point of this conversation Is knowing the law, not someone's speculation or the "common conception".  

However, the difference from 2004-2006 is that we don't have no doc loans and investors speculating with new housing yet. 

The goal is for your rental income to cover all ongoing and future expenses PLUS provide a monthly profit.If you do not have the monthly profit, leaving you with only appreciation and principal pay down, you are speculating which is a entirely different animal.Ideally you invest for cash flow and maintain your properties with the  minimum level of equity to generate the maximum level of true cash flow.

I can only speculate that it was the luck of the draw.

That, to me, is the difference between an investor in these markets vs. a speculator that just buys at retail with little down and hopes the market goes up but has no exit strategy if it doesn't.To the 2nd point of taking advantage of volatility, if you are disciplined about buying and fixing right to create a strong equity position, and not buying when you can't, then not only does market volatility matter less, as you'll have an equity cushion, but also buying in this way will tend to do your market timing for you, as good deals are more plentiful in a down market.

I'm not big on speculating. 

Investors in the other cities might be hoping for appreciation which is speculation in my opinion. 

@Chai Sag  That is not investing, It is speculation. 

The high rent growth has been supported by low vacancy and a lot of build-to-suit office inventory vs speculative developments.