Supply & demand.

Look at external metrics like stock market, interest rates, supply and demand of homes, I'm basically looking to avoid the crash as in 2008.

http://www.har.com/content/newsroomHouston Real Estate Highlights in August Single-family home sales rose 8.2 percent with a total of 7,914 units sold —the greatest one-month sales volume of all timeOn a year-to-date basis, single-family home sales are up 1.5 percent;Total property sales rose 7.1 percent to 9,319 units;Total dollar volume shot up 10.6 percent to $2.6 billion;At $225,000, the single-family home median price rose 4.2 percent to an August high;The single-family home average price increased 2.4 percent to $289,519, which was also the highest level for an August;Single-family homes months of inventory climbed to a 4.0-months supply;Townhome/condominium sales rose 5.1 percent, with the average price up 1.0 percent to $202,669 and the median price up 4.0 percent to $156,000;Leases of single-family homes were down 2.2 percent with average rent down slightly to $1,878;Leases of townhomes/condominiums rose 5.7 percent with average rent down 2.6 percent to $1,604.

I've read a lot people will pay for labor and supply the finish materials such as door hardware, tile, light fixtures, etc.3.

Follow-through.Here a couple of clauses from our rental agreement you may find helpful:MAINTENANCE OF PREMISES.Landlord will maintain all electrical, plumbing, heating, and other facilities and appliances supplied by Landlord in good working order.Landlord will perform periodic inspections of the premises, no less than once a year, for the purpose of property maintenance and repair.Landlord will notify Tenant in advance of the inspection.

REI is a competitive sport: While you are stuck in analysis paralysis, someone else is buying the house.Good Luck!

The number of homes for sale is way down - and the "months supply" is the lowest I've ever seen, indicating an extremely strong seller's market.

In addition the supply is constrained both geographically and by onerous regulations on additional building.  

Hello all,I'm thinking of shrinking down my supply of homes.

It turned out he had never managed property before, in fact he had never touch a single peace of real estate in his life, and was a renter with zero experance beyound being a sales rep for sporting goods store.In the process of trying to make the deal work, he said he would be managing the properties, but after a few weeks of owning them,  he realized he had no clue what he was doing.