While people have made a lot of money on housing appreciation, and for many, this has been their entire adult investing lives that this has been a potentially lucrative strategy, this is an extreme fluke in terms of the overall sweep of housing market history, and it's not one that I want to ride out, waiting for the next crash.I am a boring person who likes multifamily. 

@John Hamm I can’t speak to Cleveland but the Atlanta market right now is extremely competitive and prices have gotten insane, it’s doable but it might be worth looking at other medium sized cities around Georgia.

Market rent doesn't go UP or DOWN that fast; you'll find 9/10 properties don't pencil out and you don't have to waste anybody's time (extremely important to agents).

Extremely Sorry for such a late response, I know how much damage 1 whole month can do to a time-line.

@Kris L.Agreed at the extremes of the rent spectrum it gets out of whack but it's a good barometer when evaluating for a potential deal.

I love your feedback, extremely helpful.

(3) if we were to pull the trigger on this, we would likely want to do a Section 121 to preserve our equity gains, as much as possible, and pour it back towards the downpayment of the multi-family.

I need some direction.My goal would be to move forward financially by purchasing my next multi-unit to increase my cash flow (I'll have nothing else to live on except an extremely small SS).

Hello, I am reaching out for advice with an extremely challenging tenant.

I see that the 1% rule is extremely hard to achieve so I am wondering what you look for?