that we’ve learned in our 24 years, managing almost 700 doors across the Metro Detroit area, including almost 100 S8 leases:Class A Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 3-5 years for positive cashflow, but you get highest relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% the more recent norm.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 680+ (roughly 5% probability of default), zero evictions in last 7 years.Class B Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, decent amount of relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% should be applied only if proper research done to support.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 620-680 (around 10% probability of default), some blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 5 yearsClass C Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, high cashflow and at the lower end of relative rent & value appreciation.

It took me 5 or 6 years to find my first private lender.

If the insulation is in decent shape and not covered by combustible insulation, and not terribly overloaded, it might last many more years.

They could self manage for several years, using the rental income, until the next phase of their retirement.If they have a decent amount of financial discipline, they may want to get a HELOC now before they build to get the most favorable rate.

Quote from @Sherief Elbassuoni: Whenever I have cash, I put it as a downpayment for a new rental.Even if you got 4-5%, this is less than inflation, so your money is loosing valueMonth over month inflation is more current information than year over year...and it has been near zero in total for the past nine months and negative for 5 of those 9 months. 

We have experienced a tech boom of more than $50 billion around the city in the past five years.

Still, I think you'd find it difficult to find one that would be a good long-term investment unless you had another ~20-30 years to go, it's at least cash neutral, and you don't plan to hold it too long (to avoid too much investment loss and before you get to the point where it's unsellable because of too few years left); that's another way of saying that maybe it suits your cash needs in the near-term or is at least less of a pill to swallow than other options until you find something that's more of a sensible long-term play

Maturities tend to be 3, 5, 7, or 10 years. 

Around 7 years left and buyer is a bit of a headache (always late with partial payments etc.)

Given the fact that if  there is a gain a future year the prior year loss can offset it, it seems that one would want to file the loss so they can offset that gain.