And for actual data points I had a few City of Portland projects that were taking over 1 year to just get renovation permits not even ground up and one ground up.. in that same year I permitted and built 30 homes in the city of Canby .. 20 miles south and that was with permits taking about 40 days longer than normal with Covid.. i have exited Portland as a builder developer for good.. 

Even in a normal market you are lucky to predict 12 months out. 

I work a normal 9-5 job and I am looking to have some passive income.

(It happens)Historical appreciation is no guarantee of future appreciationGetting a house for less than asking doesn't mean anything as most homeowners are also bad at gauging true valueSince you are in central Texas, have you looked into Lifestyles Unlimited? 

I pay unusually cheap rent for a lovely apartment in the heart of Cambridge, MA and the more I look around, the more I realize how hard it will be to find that lifestyle and price combination elsewhere.

I pay unusually cheap rent for a lovely apartment in the heart of Cambridge, MA and the more I look around, the more I realize how hard it will be to find that lifestyle and price combination elsewhere.

I'm going to assume your rent is normally due on the 1st; if not received by then the eviction process can begin.Gail

If you just have a "tired" property then you can normally go FHA as long as both sides are willing to work through the inevitable issues. 

Would you take the liability of someone else's work whose license is under investigation for less money than you would normally get for the same job?

In normal times this would be a mild inconvenience but with the market the way it is, everyone mentioned above is so completely overwhelmed with the amount of work coming in, I'm a bit worried how long all of this will take.