I’m currently back in the coastal Carolina area.Assets:I have about $40k cash401k has 28kStocks I play with $3.5kPossible Assets:Could cash out $30k on my life insurance policy, although some have advised against it (million dollar policy)Other stocks- my parents bought me before I was born - uncertain about the amount If I wanted to jump on an investment, where do I start?

I also would never invest for appreciation alone because then I might as well invest in the stock market - at least then I can distribute my risk a bit more. 

@Elram Raguan Banks are being cautious because of the uncertainty of the general conditions - unemployment rate and stock volatility.

As it got to the middle class/upper middle class it was a combination of a house and stocks/bonds.

They generally get compensated for stocks, bonds and insurance sales.

If they are the ones making the offers they are incentivized to tweak their Zestimate algorithms to produce lower numbers.I realize Zestimates are not always accurate or a good measure of home value, but there are many people out there that put a lot of stock in them.Would you hire a home appraiser that made cash offers on every home he or she appraised?

I think if you have the funds and area to store materials, it may be worth stocking up on commonly used materials.

My issue is that I just started investing last year when multi-family became the goto diversification from the stock market and properties are going for cash, above asking price, as-is, and under contract within minutes from when the opportunity is emailed to me.

I think it’s one of those stock market psychology things where they want to exit, but not at a purchase price loss.

It's analogous to owning stock at its very peak.