You have probably seen that Lakeland, FL is a popular investment city these days, some of the reasons for this is that Polk County/Lakeland is ideally located centrally to Orlando and Tampa, we have many warehouses strategically located throughout Polk County, to include warehouses for Amazon, IKEA, RoomsToGo, PepsiCo and Publix which make this area strategic for distribution throughout Florida, not to mention Publix is headquartered in Lakeland, and we also have a large presence for Coca Cola bottling and Juices in Auburndale, FL  which is about 10-20 min from Lakeland.I have been investing since 2002, and my investments are mainly in Lakeland, Bartow, Auburndale and Winter Haven, I also like Lake Wales and Haines City, there is good population growth, and high demand for workers in these areas, of course keep in mind we are in a pretty descent economy right now, whatever you look at, make sure the numbers make sense, and if you purchase something, leave enough room for an economic downturn, I see many outside investors purchasing at higher than normal prices, because the prices seem cheap compared to other markets close to Lakeland, but this can become a trap if the market shifts in a negative direction.

If you bought a rental property when each son or daughter was born, that would pay for there college and or down payment on a house.  

Point being, I think you are analyzing yourself into a trap.

Negative cash flow is a death trap in this business unless you are prepared to bleed a very deep bank account for a long time.

with the rehab and appreciation, the only property I have any investment still trapped in is my last purchase from 8 months ago.  

Order delivery if you have to but insisting on dining in was just irresponsible and put a lot of people at risk. being stuck in that dead end trap for the rest of my life and bouncing from one terrible job to another while dreaming of having a career I care about but never being able to go for it because of the financial and time hardships or B.

Changing standards to approve or deny people is a discrimination trap.

I had to chuckle when I read your post because it reminded me of the statement all these financial advisors always give before they help: "Past performance is not an indicator of future success".Don't get me wrong, if you keep finding markets that appreciate as well as the ones you have been in so far and that keeps going, you will reach your TFP very soon with that model.I know you are aware that we are rapidly running towards a massive affordability trap.

That's the wrong first question...it's a trap. 

You can really maximize your returns if you sell or refi that trapped equity.