me personally I think that the retail business is going to slowly decline over the next decades because as prices rise due to inflation and the rising operating costs- means tenets will no longer be able to keep the operation open due to the constant decressing rates of return for business's.

I don't want to discourage you from trying to learn or get into a new field but if your investor is approaching you to be their buyer's agent, I would decline.

If he declines, you have to make a decision as to whether you walk, compromise or cave.

If you say you are declining him because he’s an *** they yes you are opening up yourself to a potential lawsuit (I believe).

Your property may not make as high ROI a year in cash flow but the value of the property rises substantially as these are solid areas with no sign of decline.

It historically has but historically there have also been short periods where the market declines. 

The decline in value will be on paper only, and if you have long-term fixed debt, you can just ride it out.  

As my favorite derelict who used to hang around my old warehouse from the neighborhood used to say, “What had happened was was”……contractor turned out to be an incompetent, window-licking muppet, largest tenant moved out, rent declined for 2 months, my part time help all got hired away, and because I had the stupid idea that it would be easier to get all the work done myself and then go chill, I promptly burned myself out.This was accomplished by not much other than sheer willpower, and the lack of ability to delegate, implement systems, and the small fact that with 3 tenant suites added on top of my semi-ambitious-yet-I-Think-I-Can-make-it-work construction budget, my wallet became a small furry doe-eyed creature dropped into a pit of vipers.

While there may be local drivers that create appreciation in specific situations, I think flat prices are the best we can hope for in the coming years, and significant declines are possible.Jon

If you buy a new car, and finance 100% (and usually taxes and other fees), and it gets repoed a year later, there is no way the lender will make up the amount they are owed when they sell the car.If a lender takes back a house where the loan balance is $500K, but its now only worth $350K due to a declining market and the property condition, do you seriously think they're making any money when they sell it?