And since the Lender doesn’t want to be in a position of gambling, they hedge their locked loans by shorting Mortgage Backed Securities.

The only way to solve for a desirable investment return is to pay lower price than you could have if all of these factors weren't in play.Just don't expect a big drop, or for a long-lasting one, unless this situation remains uncontrolled for a long period of time.

at that tax sale did you do research on the house before purchase or just gamble?

Compare that to if Hobo Bob somehow suddenly became employable and went to work making $120,000 a year as an executive for Proctor and Gamble.

Anyplace else is a gamble and having cash if it gets much worse would make you feel like you're shopping for deals at the dollar store.  

Conversely, casinos and other gambling businesses, agriculture enterprises, religious and charitable organizations are ineligible.Business Interruption InsuranceMost policies exclude interruption for viruses.

Expecting a V-shaped recovery is gambling.

So its a gamble that a COVID related blemish on my credit history followed by 2 years of perfect payments would be an issue. 

It's a gamble really - my term for it is the CGT - the Consumer Gambling Threshold - That is in fact the force that sets the appraisal fee, not the appraiser.

It is shocking to me that NYC REI would gamble on rapid appreciation over cash flow.