@Stefan W.While it is true that no one has a crystal ball and can see into the future, the National Association of Realtors has access to far more data than other entity in the U.S.

Every week I analyze every single 2-4 unit property from Placer County all the way down to Merced County, and can tell you there are some great opportunities to cash flow out here.If you hand-pick the best 75-80 properties out here, this is what you can roughly expect:Price: ~$270k25% Down: ~$68kGross Monthly Rents: ~$2,200PITI @ 5%: ~$1,450GRM: ~10.311% Test: ~0.82%Gross Annual Yield: ~9.90%If this is in Sacramento, in two years your numbers could look more like this:Value: ~$305k (+6% annual appreciation)Added Equity: ~$35kGross Monthly Rents: ~$2,625 (+10% this year, +8.5% next year as projected)PITI @ 5%: ~$1,450GRM: ~8.571% Test: ~0.97%Gross Annual Yield: ~11.67%Now, I do not have a crystal ball, and obviously you should make decisions based more on what things are and not what they could be.

You would have to have a very dependable crystal ball.

Crystal Springs and the River District are already starting to build.  

@Greg LeachIf only I had a crystal ball!!

Originally posted by @Crystal Em:Our contractor presented us with a price list tallying the work he's done so far.  

I know of some in Crystal Beach but that wouldn't help you because you'd have to take it the long way around through Winnie.

There are no crystal balls. 

@Matt Motil  @Crystal Smith  Thank you both for the mentions!

My suggestion is that in submitting the offer, you make it crystal clear that the only reason you are rolling out an escalation clause is because you want the property badly and just don't know how high you need to go to win and NOT because you aren't willing to pay a premium.