@Adam Frantz: We left Seattle (I was born there and we raised our family there) because they couldn't seem to turn the water off (rain my friend, drizzly, grey, everyday) and  we ended up in Arizona which we find both very favorable weather and  favorable landlord tenant laws.

I like value adds and appreciation as my source of return because they 1) allow me to extract my investment to leverage elsewhere (we only have one property with any of our investment trapped in it) 2) it is taxed deferred (unlike cash flow).

Can't speak for others, but  as a Ukrainian, born and raised, after seeing my streets and my buildings being bombed for 3 days, I could barely focus on anything including business.

If you were just born right out of the chute, would a bank lend to you?

The ex-tenants are now trapped with the realization, that until they pay me off, they are unable to get the things they want.

The X-factor is immigration numbers, which is perhaps the #1 key driver of home appreciation.The percentage of the foreign-born in this country has held steady at about 13% (it is currently 13.7%), since about 1900.

I'm born and raised in NY, lived in Jersey City and Hoboken NJ after college and now am in PA. 

Some are born with talent to be great, some work hard to be great.

And just because you were born here or moved here doesn’t mean we pay your way. 

A soda machine weighs 5x as much as a fridge, and I can see how a person can be trapped underneath one.