Is this a good deal gone bad too fast or is there a reward?

That is an extremely low cash flow in my opinion and not worth the risk vs reward.

Government policies aimed at rewarding failure and penalizing success also significantly contribute to the state of mind.

This is a much bigger investment of time but the rewards are much higher too.

I guess to some, if a company commits an illegal act, they should be rewarded...

It's fun and can be rewarding.......at times.  

Its a conditioning process like investing and the rewards are worth it ;)Garrett 

I am not going to reward others for mistreating my places or I.

It's long, almost never predictable, and takes occasional grit to press on, but the rewards are worth it!

I refuse to assume a rising market in my analyses, it just seems irresponsible/risky to me, but others are at a different point on the risk/reward spectrum and that's fine too - everyone has to find their own comfort spot.Angel, there are a lot of good ideas in this thread including private lending and getting some rental properties, or (maybe the best one yet) just waiting until you find something that does meet your criteria.Another idea could include spending a little bit on educating yourself in any areas of real estate that interest you.