I could tell you horror stories, but won't bore you.Going for a bike ride......

We've been riding a nice appreciation wave for awhile now.

Getting the house listed and getting it under contract is like the bull and rider sitting behind the gate, getting ready for the ride. 

If it's not the cruise you signed up for, don't go for the ride...  

If you are cash flow positive (with a buffer), and don't intend to sell the property(s) in the next few years, then you should be in a good position to ride out a downturn in either/both.What's the opportunity cost of buying or not buying the properties - is there a safer investment with better returns?

Currently right now I am working for instacart, Doordash and Uber eats. I get paid well but as we know there’s no check involved. Does that qualify to lenders??

My personal opinion is that anything that costs around 4-5% a year and is for a GOOD REASON (car, house, student loans, etc.) is a great value and you could take all of that money that you might be using to pay off that balance in full and invest it in the stock market - which with EXTREMELY conservative estimates can yield about 6% each year if you ride out the waves.I am not a CPA, but the tax deductibility is always attractive to people.

At the least, I can keep it on Airbnb and try to ride this out.

Mine are usually 0.4-0.8% of the purchase price for one year but insurance companies expect to pay for a new roof every 5-10 years from hail damage so I usually get my premiums back

Even if rents were to drop substantially, if an investor has a good margin of safety, they should be able to ride out any market corrections.This is also extremely market dependent.