There is absolutely no doubt we are headed into a cycle change; the only unknown is WHEN. 

The when down cycle happened nobody was developing raw land anymore so went to selling bigger apartment buildings.

This is the rinse and repeat cycle right?

Fourth, we are in an increasing interest rate cycle.

There will always be REI to be had, and as it looks like we may be nearing the top of this cycle, you may find that you end up in a better position by waiting a bit and buying the dip. secondary and tertiary markets dont get hit as hard by that dip, of course, but esp if you're looking in any primaries (memphis, SF, SD, NY, Seattle, Chicago etc) keep the swing in mind.

By no means should this question be deemed as a deterrent for investing in Real Estate, as ideally you would buy below market value and avoid being upside down during a crash.This question is sometimes area specific, ...

Highly recommend you have a qualified attorney in your state draft the operating agreement.A multi-member LLC taxed as a partnership might be the way to go.Partnership agreements are pretty flexible and "waterfall schedules" can dictate how profit/loss and distributions are allocated during the life cycle of the LLC. 

Austin has got to be at about the top of the cycle, but it could plateau for years.

You will find people debating until they are blue in the face whether we are at the top of the market, close to it, or just past it, but the reality is that we are unarguably very deep into the current business cycle.

You mix the shrink/swell cycles of the underlying soil and get some differential settlement across the slab and foundation cracks happen.Stucco, like brick, is a very brittle material that is unforgiving to foundation movement and cracks easily.