s suggestion of an RV for a quick and inexpensive solution to test out.

Therefore Lessing the pool of renters In a bear market, as a consumer/renter, would you want to risk purchasing a house, even an inexpensive house, if you weren't sure if your job would be around in the next year?

High quality renters, as well as potential buyers, will continue to be priced out of the downtown Boston/Cambridge/Somerville markets, and this should drive solid price appreciation in Malden as folks flock here as a relatively inexpensive place to live where you can still work downtown and take public transportation. 

It is NOT just an 8% property management fee either, it is familiarity with the market, being able to locate deals, being able to manage renovations, not getting ripped off on repair costs,being able to verify that everything is running as it should be & being able to quickly diagnose/fix when it isn't, not suffering from high turn over from poor tenant screening & management, not spending a fortune on airfare to fix issues, and generally not being 100% reliant on others who may or may not have your best interests at heart to make the investment work.On the other hand, if you study things this way and compare multiple markets, you will see that places that have inexpensive property and high initial cash flow do NOT have high appreciation.

I would say this is more poor management, not having a quality system in place, not being disciplined, many lessons come out of this occurrence, to be frank with you, if the cost of the lesson is (4) months lost rent, I would chalk it up as an inexpensive learning experience.

I had a similar experience when selling a very inexpensive house a few months ago.

@Michael Koleber starting your LLC is simple and inexpensive, and I'd recommend you do that now.

I would say in my experience (I have bought 5 cabins since July) that the revenue is good and the net cash flow is decent but not as great once you start factoring in expenses, specifically utilities and maintenance.  

Dallas TEXAS, Please advice where to buy inexpensive interior/exterior paint , flooring, windows?

Never get into consumer debt (buying things on credit that go down in value) except for possibility a car that is reliable and very inexpensive.