Very high interest rates, Easy times to find deals with conventional loans and hard times and recently the housing bubble / crash.  

@Alexandra Coryell this is going to be highly dependent on your lender and your builder. 

What effects will Tesla being there have on real estate?  

Do not paint brick -- low maintenance becomes expensive high-maintenance, no thank you. 

Regarding limitation of taxes upon selling, you'll need to make your expenses high (at least on paper), but if your plan is to purely sell it and cash out, then you're going to end up paying capital gains taxes.

As an agent if I get a referral I love clients who are A) Ready & able to buy B) They communicate 3) Not difficult/high maintenance.

And what do you think about cold calling, I heard its effective, but I'm not sure how to find the phone numbers

As I approach 15 active notes at one time it gets a bit more like spinning plates and seeing some negative effects.  

I highly suggest looking into duplexes in areas like Sunnyside, Acres Homes, Independence Heights, and East River.

High volume discounts are available to everyone, irrelevant of deal type, with me.