If another crash occurs I would assume rents would rise because people would be losing their homes.

It appears people are moving out although the attack dogs will likely say this report is also wrong too... https://www.forbes.com/sites/troymcmullen/2017/06/...Markets are volatile ... appreciation and cash flow both are not steady, and in the short term it is hard to predict when a market will crash just as it is hard to predict when a tenant will go bad on you or a water heater will blow up, but you can predict over long hold periods on average how these things will perform. 

Then either wait for the market to crash again, as you stated it eventually will, and buy at a discount at the bottom of the cycle.

I remember looking at homes on the MLS during the crash for very little money but I know they have gone up several times already .

Well about 10 years ago we had a housing collapse in which prices crashed substantially.  

I bought one with a 100% loan right before the crash, then moved to Alaska  I held that house, paid out of pocket, refinanced and managed to hold it 10 years.  

The fact that the party ended and the crash wiped out the little guys holding the bag is a little different then saying you should be smart enough to live within your means 

I am still waiting for the Baltimore market to recover from the last crash.

If I'm too tired in the morning,  I may just go home and crash.  

After going through the bumps in the road after the real estate crash, which many of you my have, we are now looking forward to get back into real estate investing full time.