So look for very high growth areas or reliable/stable areas that won't get as affected if any type of downturn actually happens.

Im currently renting, but have a good deal of money saved up.

We recently listed a property on Zillow and the applicant is strong but it’s the mother of the person that will actually be living there.

yes, i knew the work part. just wanted to understand the staying in it even if paying full price. not a deal breaker for me, just need to figure out where to roll my money into to use it

We ended up going the HELOC route on that property for a few reasons. 1) the interest at the time was only 5%, which although seemed high, didn't matter too much with our potential property showing a 18% ROI 2) we leveraged a second home loan with 10% down for that new property, so our HELOC withdrawal was relatively small compared to what would be needed for a traditional loan on a rental. 3) I dont think I will see the rates in the 2% again in my lifetime, so figured I should hold on to that "free money" instead of selling it. 

@William Ladd Wondering how your RE journey is going, hope you took this advice :)   Will and I actually worked together after this post. 

Whether it is loud music at night, or "Hey, our car broke down and we won't have all the money this month to pay the rent" - how you handle those situations.  

Currently, I am listening to all BP podcasts about raising private money.

Thank you for your information about akiya renovation and AirBnBs.It definitely seems like (as with all things) there's a balance between investing time and money.

I have money market accounts that pay 5%.