Prices might definitely correct themselves over time across the country, but I don't see any projections of them going down 30-40% anytime soon and all the projections I've seen, prices are going up.But with rents being so high, and prices still relatively low, compared to a lot of other markets in the country, my experience in this market doesn't lead me at all to believe the bottom will fall out anytime soon.If you've been in Northeast Ohio over the last 5 years you can see for yourself how much they've built up the downtown and University Circle area and literally have poured billions of dollars into it's medical infrastructure, which is one of the best in the world, creating thousands of high paying jobs and people willing to pay high rental prices.But I do agree with Nathan that it's all about having the right team and property management to be successful in this market. 

Paying down your mortgage is 100% risk free. 

This will be my primary residence and my partner will be paying some portion towards the monthly expenses.

Money down the road from a historically steady 10% increase in stocks that you will pay taxes on to collect, or immediate cash flow with tax advantages and an annual appreciation of 3-5%.Feel free to dm me if you would like to chat more on the subject 

Not a problem for one QB Desktop subscription, but after I added it up, including one $200/month subscription, we would have had to pay nearly $5000 per year in QB Online subscriptions to match the capability of QB Desktop!!!

Quote from @Lucas Hunt:  I will essentially be managing the entire property/collecting rent and my friend will not have to lift a finger.No offense,  but your friend would be better off buying the property for himself and paying a PM 10%.

I like that the HELOC functioned more as a credit card, and I only had to pay for what I used, so I had 200K of equity on hand, but only had to pay the interest on 120K.

Not only that but you are going to carry a Heloc in a 2nd lien position and you will not be able to pull out more cash unless you do a cash out refinance to pay off the previous Heloc and take out more cash.85% of the home owners who take out a Heloc refinance in 3-5 years so it makes more sense to simply do a COR and avoid the future closing costs.

Buying a home is the best Investment you can ever do, owning your own home, having the equity and most times its cheaper than rent.How do I overcome the rate, by paying the principal down!

We even said we'd pay more.