(and I as a consumer don't always want the cheapest, either - I want a fair price for the quality I'm looking for)I'm in two different markets that, according to most other owners in both areas, are dominated by VRBO/Homeaway bookings.  

I get that  a "c" has a higher cap rate in theory, because of age, location etc, but if i am paying for an 8% cap AND have 5 years of 25%(of gross) capex, am i the greater fool or should the price reflect the poor condition of all the consumable items and therefore sell at a higher cap rate?

You won’t have the opportunity to take advantage of major swings in rental rates because they are locked in however some leases adjust at 1 or 5 or 10 year intervals according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or some have a percentage rent clauseMost retail leases are also triple net (NNN) meaning the tenant pays in addition to rent the real estate taxes, building and liability insurance and maintenance of the parking lot, sidewalks, landscaping and other items that would be considered “common areas” or areas utilized by customers.

Our bigger OOS investment had a few issues but the first issue to hit our cash flow was property taxes that were increasing faster then the STR rents).  7) Owner occupied in addition to the lower down typically has lower rates that help increase cash flow 8) High rent units (The disadvantage of low rent units is the percentage of the rent consumed by maintenance, cap expense, and miscellaneous charges).  9) house detached duplex starts you small (one rental basically right next door: Is there an easier way to start?).

I turned my commuting time into education time and started consuming endless real estate podcasts. 

Moreover, you shouldn't be in so much of a hurry to deploy this 30k because you are still in the content consuming phase, a phase you should relish. 

As long as there’s enough people think we are going into recession, we are going into a recession... nothing else matters.... sure enough, we all know what happened in 2008/2009...I am thinking we are back at that stage again. 10 years later Consumer confidence is at a 17 year high.

I used FPU and Dave's debt snowball plan to eliminate $87k of consumer debt, but after I had purchased 35 units or so.I just met Dave while on vacation in December.

Default rates on consumer real estate would be frowned upon by regulators...for the exact reason you stated...jacking up the rate so that interest eats up equity.

It prevents that obnoxious and time consuming back and forth for everyone.