A lot of folks did get burned in the last crash by banking on their appreciation, but not everybody did.

Finally rented it out but didn't do anything right in tenant selection but didn't get burned.

I just learned a whole lot more than I wanted about insurance after a tenant burned down a 24 unit building in one of our apartment complexes by throwing his cigarette out onto his balcony where he kept a pile of trash and boxes (sound familiar?)

Going dry will also burn out your pump quicker. for this reason I don't have washers in the 6 unit.

I like that niche but like any other one, you can get burned if you miss something like that.

Basically I got to the point where I am “skilled” enough that I can accomplish certain projects without hurting myself or burning down the place and my work does not impress at all, typical C+ rental quality.

You can definitely get burned if you are not paying attention.

The people who are willing to research/understand their investments are generally the ones who see it's easier to do it themselves or take a more active role.The ones looking to just drop their money in something they don't understand(whether stocks, re, etc) are the ones who shouldn't be doing that and may ultimately get burned.

I'm simply vocal about the city because you've got people promoting it like crazy for its "cheap deals" to unsuspecting new and wanna be investors, and if I'm not talking about the dangers, there are relatively few others with as amplified a voice as I have out there warning them.

Find another contractor.Don't ever pay for work up front.Don't ever NOT use solid contracts.I got burned $45,000 last year for not following this...It hurt.