Andy / We studied the US RE market for 3-years, (lost a small bundle on the DOW in '08 along the way), and then jumped out in late '09.

I've just found this excellent place with ppl with familiar interests, regarding Brandon Turner's blog and for this - another BIG THANK you Brandon for that excellent article (young age investing)some info about me...My name is Vladimir Valter and i from Russia, I'm 31 years old. i've studied maths&physics at People's Friendship University of Russia and i ve got Master's degree in it.And i work as a sales rep during last 10 years.I've read all Kiyosaki's books and also bought his cash-flow game, and I VERY LOVE IT.My first goal is to find an excellent deal (buy a house) to create my first passive income and find mentor.

I spend a lot of my time these days studying/exploring creative/new ways of doing and perceiving things.

Google the area and study the amenities close by followed by a Google "street view" virtual tour. 3.

You also need to study the rental market as to what fair market rent will be.

This guys seems too -http://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/3915/blog_posts/27561-a-case-study-in-self-storagehttp://www.storemorepayless.comhttp://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/3915-all-things-self-storagestephen--------------

Will study in more detail.

Or study real estate history, and speak to the current state of the market.

If you read the study I linked to, you will see that even in SoCal, the actual numbers do not support that hypothesis.  

Thanks @Joel Owens.As mentioned in my introduction, I am an active developer, buy land with some frequency and am familiar with geotechnical and geological studies.