@David Hayman, I'm not an accountant, so you should talk with a local professional, but if depreciation and other expenses cause your rental property to have a loss, then you can use that to decrease taxes on W2 income IF your income is below a threshold (it starts phasing out over $100K in income I believe).

We could also put labor into buy and hold properties, decreasing repair/rehab costs.

If you hold onto the shares for 25 years, the value will increase and decrease, but ultimately as the stock market has proven over time, it always goes up. 

For instance say a properties premium is $3000 and the percent you are bidding starts at 30% you would comete with the other bidders by decreasing your percent.

In his building in Mayaguez he has 2 vacancies for the first time in over 8 years and he has been steadily decreasing rent prices for the past 3 years in order to keep the other units occupied. 

My crystal ball agrees with the 2 to 3 year window of appreciation but at a decreasing rate.  

It is absolutely true that real income earned by the lower class  has remained stagnant or slightly decreased for decades while the real income of the wealthy has increased significantly.

How do you feel about president trump requiring FHA to decrease insurance premiums ?

If you are single and steadily employed, I'd say you can afford to take out a lot more than 25% of the equity.So here are my general thoughts:1) Unless you have a reason to believe your home's value will decrease, it's a safe play.

The rent you charge does not go down even if the home value decreases.