In an era of Greece (the PIIGS), 1+ trillion annual deficits, and many other things, we are a landmine away from disaster.

I think more accurate advice for 20 somethings would be:- work on increasing your knowledge and income (try to find and fill your skill deficits so that you can be useful to others in the industry and make money; here is something that might be useful: http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/negotiation...)- work on your people and organizational skills- get your personal finances in shape- set a realistic time frame for investing (it might take several years to be ready)- work on getting your SO on board- build a network of colleagues that you can call on later- don't buy stupid motivational business books to learn, buy books that focus on specific skills and that have case studiesOR- have access to specialized knowledge. a large amount of capital, and a professional network, already- have access to people with those things Many people go through seismic changes in their lives during their twenties that are not accounted for in these posts.

A national economy that has so much built up debt in the annual deficit, unfunded social security and other obligations, the Euro zone,I have had many friends trying to push others into MLM "opportunities."

Don't forget that inflation plays a part in reducing the debt, to what extent isn't totally clear, but I think it's not as simple as revenue - spending = deficit (or should i say spending - revenue = deficit).

So at this point it seems our instability more than anything is affecting us as we are just spinning our wheels getting nowhere.I am not part of any political party so I only want the discussion to be focused on credit and how that would impact our huge negative deficit and borrowing costs to balance the budget.

In my mind, the appreciation over the next 5 years outweighs the monthly deficit and that is the minimum amount of time we would hold in this new position. 

In Providence, if it is a 75+ year old place, the escrow and maintenance expenses  are probably low  Together these expenses add up to  roughly $1069/month.Combine the $1069 monthly expenses with the  exiting $600/month PITI vs Rental Income deficit, and you are substantially more than a few hundred dollars a month cash negative.I'm sorry, but as an investment,  this is an easy no for me at $435k  or $410k,, or even $350k .  

Of course you would be selling 100's of properties a minute and pulling in a large enough income to single-handedly pay off the entire US deficit afterwards, so you'd have paid off your (or your parent's) 2nd mortgage and be living in a mansion on one of your estates on the French Riviera and across the globe.

If there is a deficit, we invoice the tenants and the balance is due the first of the next month.So, in short.  

This trend will probably continue because of the imbalance in the trade and budget deficit.