RE is definitely more predictable and pumps out way more $ for me.

However, I don't choose to invest on natural appreciation, as I cannot predict the market, I cannot guarantee that my investment will increase, and I have little control that I will be able to increase the value of that home. 

I am predicting the interest rates to rise further before they drop which will directly reduce the prices of houses. 

There is no way to predict when a toilet will break or a garbage disposal will go out or when a tenant will put a hole in the wall.

I've heard the idea of the reno book in podcasts, and I think it's a great way to standardize your process and make cost prediction a bit easier and more accurate.  

@Vicki Chu, Nobody can predict future appreciation.  

People have been predicting it would crash for years now haha.The Tax Cut and Jobs act will significantly lower corporate taxes, which could greatly contribute to another bull year for 2018.It's great to stay diversified and take advantage of both RE and stock market investing.

For instance, for York County, PA our tax assessors page is probably half a page and it only gives you very little information such as who the property is deeded to right now (owners names), land use code (which can be used to verify property types and start a mailing campaign, and the assessed value of the property that we have to then use to go manually find out the projected taxes in our county from a tax calculator everyone uses in the area.I've been to other county websites that will actually pull up a report that's similar to an mls listing and has all of that above information, as well as the predicted taxes all predetermined and broken down for you.

So far it is what I predicted before I went there.

On the road to getting an NPN to reperform, things are not always predictable but when you buy 1st mortgages as I do and know how to buy well, you generally always have multiple good exit strategies.