The bids I won, are down payments on property that has "small" balances under $20K but I do not see how this is legit. 

Section 8 is a nice program, but you will get low IQ tenants who don't know how to clean properly.

When interest rates rise, in a balanced market, rents should rise, as the alternative to renting - buying a home - becomes that much more expensive.

At the heart of effective property management lies the ability to balance the competing interests of three critical stakeholders: owners, tenants, and vendors.

Take ownership of your mistake and learn to do the proper due diligence recommended above😊

that we’ve learned in our 24 years, managing almost 700 doors across the Metro Detroit area, including almost 100 S8 leases:Class A Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 3-5 years for positive cashflow, but you get highest relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% the more recent norm.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 680+ (roughly 5% probability of default), zero evictions in last 7 years.Class B Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, decent amount of relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% should be applied only if proper research done to support.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 620-680 (around 10% probability of default), some blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 5 yearsClass C Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, high cashflow and at the lower end of relative rent & value appreciation.

I disagree with your sentiment about a bull market correlating to my genius I just manage risk properly with a model I have ran for years and in the past month / month and a half have made almost another 100,000.

Quote from @Michael K Gallagher: we've generally seen a more balanced market here in central OH. 

Keep in mind, though, if you just sell outright, you could be looking at capital gains and depreciation recapture, so it’s worth crunching the numbers with a proper tax professional (I’m not one, by the way).What do you think the rest of the community has seen happen to property values since last year, and do you believe it changes the 1031 conversation?

I guess my challenge right now is to define the strategy and balance all the factors, such as job and population growth (value increase), cashflow (demand & supply market, interest rate, property tax, maintenance cost), and risk control (insurance etc).