Here's just one of many stories:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/great-retail-apocal...Multiple factors:  online shopping, a move to experiences from owning stuff, unappealing stores, and the same stuff everywhere.There's an elephant in the room, IMHO, and that's the concentration of wealth and income into a small group of people.  

Josh Calcanis we definitely provide value and are considered the best but these new guys are charging 30% less for a similar offering and our niche, tho class A with solid income - is price sensitive because this is a second home while they commute/are on call for work...I may try to mystery shop some the competition and get more info on what they are offering

It's walkable to shopping and dining, transportation etc - dealing with the "quiet neighbors" is probably less of an issue... 

Buy my 86-yr old neighbors' 1 acre house and property so I can expand and make official my easement with a boundary adjustment that also gets his shop! 

I personally feel it depends on your market, but if you shop around and are savvy enough, you may be able to build cheaper. 

Houston is humid and oversized doesn't always work well...on the other hand....a buyer doesn't want to spend an additional 5k off the bat (5k is a little high especially since he will have the luxury of shopping around with a functioning unit).

Sorry to say, but if its on a web site, its already been shopped pretty well.

Chances are you're going to rent to college students or young professionals that are more worried about what bars and shops they can walk to than what the finishes look like.

We are selling one in Florida, shopping to buy one more this week, and will buy another after the Florida property sells.You have to manager the managers, but the total time should not be an average of four to six hours per house per year. 

The loan is only given in conjunction with the house purchase; they don't just give you money to go shopping for a house.