@David Goddard  very simply if you go into a market with these metrics any market Is good.1. establish the median sale price for the MSA2. buy within 20% of the top of the median.if you buy morris stuff is the very bottom.. common sense should dictate that the cheapest bottom priced units are going to have the poorest renters.. poor renters god bless them but they are very unstable and you as landlord get sucked into their drama and unstable life cycle.. which is non pay and destruction of your rental over a short period of time.

I have heard everything from, “You don't take a loss until you sell." to "It will rent during a down cycle."

There are some that I've watched that have shown up for 3 or 4 cycles.

if its the later then I suggest selling at the top of a cycle (which we primarily are in) and taking 1031 into a single apartment investment (NOT REIT) if you are trying to build wealth then I suggest get into a property that on 30-40 year in a c class neighborhood with large delta on cashflow take that difference to offset your redlining properties and just sit on the balance until your assets are paid off

We actively looked for short ter renters or people who would consider 1.5 yr lease terms in order to break the midwinter cycle FWIW, there was a fair amount of interest in short term due to non-existent short term availability. 

The common element for all of these different industries is they experience boom and bust cycles every few years.

I'm still in the "rinse" cycle of "wash, rinse, repeat'.

Depending on where you think we are in a Real Estate cycle, you may have 3-5 years during which you can do this.

I've found this to work out pretty well especially connecting with local investors.With where we are in the cycle today, I would focus on getting the best possible prices, as below market as possible.

Or else, do not put in the claim and save the headache of possible nonrenewal in the next cycle.