My biggest concern would be getting the clear to close, and the ACH payment via Plastiq be declined from either the credit card company or not accepted by the title company.

I declined their counter offer realizing that for a first time investment it might not be the greatest thing I could do.

I imagine that would decline.

Some of these markets have declining populations for the past few decades.

The stock market could decline 30%-40%, and that would only be a run of the mill bear market.

Or they rent properties that are not as nice as they would like.I do recal though for about 10 years here in Oregon rents were flat to declining then in 2013 to 2014 starting going up up up.  

Don't buy an over-priced property in declining neighborhoods with a lot of crime.

A lot of cities / states have declining population, or stagnant wage growth. 

Quote from @John McKee: https://www.usatoday.com/story... very good read, due to the decline of renters and cheaper rent, it's cheaper now to rent in Oakland,CA or few other areas compare to Austin.

https://www.har.com/content/newsroom/Houston Real Estate Highlights in April, 2023:-Single-family home sales were down 18.4 percent year-over-year, as prospective homebuyers pull back their purchase plans amid mortgage rate fluctuations;-Compared to pre-pandemic 2019, single-family home sales were down 4.7 percent, however they were up 3.9 percent versus the volume five years ago, in April 2018;-All housing segments experienced sales declines; -Days on Market (DOM) for single-family homes rose from 34 to 55 days;-Total property sales fell 20.7 percent with 8,912 units sold;-Total dollar volume dropped 19.7 percent to $3.6 billion;-The single-family median price dropped 3.6 percent to $331,000;-The single-family average price fell 1.3 percent to $419,929; -Single-family home months of inventory registered a 2.7-months supply, up from 1.3 months a year earlier;-Townhome/condominium sales experienced their 11th straight monthly decline, falling 33.2 percent, with the median price flat at $234,000 and the average price up 1.7 percent to $279,257;-Compared to pre-pandemic 2019, townhome and condominium sales were down 9.6 percent.