The cycle of this and length of time varies by local market on a micro scale and then also by national factors on a macro scale.When the markets recovers these high appreciation markets attract speculators that drive prices up.When they also leave the market it drives prices way down.So California,New York etc. you have wild swings in value whereas say in Georgia we slipped in value as well but prices were not as extreme.Investors like cash flow because it is an immediate quantifiable income.Appreciation is a crystal ball speculative investment that you hope grows faster than inflation every year.I will say there is only so much land to build on for high density areas.So if you make a bunch of money at your job and have reserves than it could be a great long term appreciation play plus rents could rise at a fast clip.You have to remember every investor has a different plan.The investors who are my clients think differently based on a different set of goals and how they want to allocate time.

To be completely honest, Nashville is exploding right now and while I know we don't like to speculate on appreciation, you will likely pay retail in this market and still experience strong appreciation for 2-3 more years.  

The homes that have been most difficult for me to turn have been those I convinced myself I could make work, either buy speculating on a higher ARV, or adjusting the repairs.Don't know what I can do to help, but always up to talk RE investment.

Speculate all you want, predicting appreciation is a myth, no matter where you live!!!

That's not investing...that's speculating, and you'd be rationalizing the deal to be a good one.Also, just because you have the money (current job) to cover the negative, doesn't mean it's OK. 

To me, that is speculation. 

There is no list server for probate, as every municipality performs the process somewhat differently and my guess is that there are certain 'firewalls' on city records that don't allow automated data mining (this is speculative, but Milwaukee uses the 'captcha' enter the number thing).

., where speculators could make substantial amounts of money depending on their timing.

Speculating here.

May be worth it for the appreciation, but remember, that's speculation, not investing.