@James Barnes- I don't have any secret, just house hacked a couple times, found another great deal here, another one there, worked my tail off fixing them up, renting them out....over time, the gap between my liabilities and rents grows, and all of the sudden I am passively making enough money to live on.

You may disagree with me here but think about it, if you suddenly sit on a bunch of free money, what motivation would make you keep trying?

All of a sudden, your 30k evaporates up really quickly.

I am more interested in gaining sudden equity or good cash flow rather than long term payout now. 

Reporters live for this kind of thing: a story where they can shine a light on wrongdoing and, through public pressure, change occurs or an organization that was ignoring the little guy suddenly finds a conscience (albeit for show).

If landlords lowered their criteria, there would suddenly be more demand, but there would be no more supply.Current way: I have a 100 unit building and I require 700 credit score and 3X income.

I'm not an epidemiologist, so I'm going to pass on trying to answer #1 (though it seems a lot of people are suddenly experts in this field);-  In terms of the impact on the broader economy, both global and domestic, there are a number of things that could happen.  

If 1% of Californians suddenly decided to move to Austin, it would almost double Austin's population.Yes, Californians are moving to other states.

Seeing all of these predictions, I suddenly feel a strong urge to join in on the fun. 

If you buy a house at say 75% of ARV - repairs (if that's what you follow), if prices drop 10%, do you suddenly have a 'bad' deal.