There was already a shortage for the people that lived here and the influx has driven prices way up and priced many out of buying even their personal homes, let alone investments/rentals.  

Markets were driven up by a scarcity of homes, true demand by owner-occupied buyers, low rates, real job growth and high tech paying jobs (my area specifically but many parts of the country). 

Heck, they didn’t really car when stolen vehicles were driven in to the store but at least they came out to write the report, but this  was 15 years ago.

As Jay suggested, if you think you are buying a good deal, be careful some of these areas that are being sold to people from California, Washington, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey, and even Texas now are being led to believe they are buying "C" class and "B" class properties here on BP and they are really scary "D" class properties.Make sure you google earth 1/2 block away to 6 block radius at all the commercial, shopping etc... if you see grafitti, broken windows, boarded up windows, trash all over the place, payday loans, unsavory characters, NO large grocery stores, NO trendy shopping, coffee shops etc...  

I have also driven for dollars. 

Yes, baby boomers, retirees and mid to lower income folks are being driven out quickly.

You're much smarter than most, well educated and driven to succeed, you're a risk taker, analytical and while some aspects of wisdom evolves over time, you're well ahead of the game

The success of these deals tends to be very event-driven.

Phenomenal character.

(We are just getting into RE investing, and I'd love to see that reality shift into predominantly investment-driven income in the future.)