She got a SFH, I got to shop it to find an area I thought would appreciate and a home that had room to build equity in and we also agreed that she would come up with some of her own money to make the deal happen as I didn't want to strangle out my business growth by paying every cost on the SFH.

Look at employment trends, jobs and job growth, migration, and other economic drivers.

How can we continue to give them direction and grow the business when we both work fulltime?

Purchasing 1,000 acres of raw land in the middle of Wyoming might be considered speculation, but investing in an area that is well established and poised to see growth over the long term isn't.

My thought is that for this reason, renters will be more plentiful, which is better for those on BP - some are starting to second guess the American dream of homeownership - renting may emerge as the "new normal" (to quote the new buzz word)I think there is something to be said for behaviroal economics and anchoring - but there is only so long a person will "settle" to live in a lower quality home, and in a lowerquality area before they realize they want to be living in a nicer place.Not to mention the macro-economic trends of population growth - that should help us all out.

Generally speaking there are two types of markets: linear and cyclical.In short, you want to focus on markets with strong economic fundamentals, particularly employment and job growth potential.

This could indicate some good growth on the horizon for Texas but I still think that better areas are out there for investment.When chosing a market in which to invest for a long term hold, there are obvioulsy several factors to consider but the two most important from my perspective are expected appreciation and cash flow.

I'm making a very solid income at the age of 21 - about $6k/month with about $1500/mo expenses - by the time I'm 25 I'll be bringing in about $10k/month from my business - maybe more, but I estimate conservatively.

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In retrospect I would have preferred slower and more controlled growth rather than a steep climb to an expeditious fall.

Seems like they are betting on residential rent continuing to go up at record-high growth rates.