from what I have experienced, like anything you get what you pay for, there are 3 factors with contractors, Fast, Reliable, and cheap,  pick 2,  you will go through these guys like water, then find one that seems good, till they flake,  my experience has been, they always want to get paid before the work is done, "to pay their guys" or something, but they rob peter to pay paul, and are always behind a job or 2, the economics generally doesn't work to hire the expensive reliable contractors, so you end up managing the projects,  I have a Painter/drywall guy, a Handyman, and Carpet guy, i do most of the technical stuff because I dont trust anyone to do it right (my personal issue) you can make the numbers work on higher end, properties, or mid/lower if you squeeze your margins. 

When I look at rate chart, I see 18% in 80s to below 4% now and maybe even lower ahead - https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/MORTG I dont want to sound negative but I dont like how the Yellens and Draghis of the world are screwing up the economic cycles with all the money printing manipulation. 

Here are some good numbers to track:- Occupancy Percentage- Economic Occupancy (what you're actually collecting)- Aged Receivables- Average Time a Property is Vacant after a tenant moves out before a new tenant moves in- Monthly Expenses, particularly maintenance and turnover expenses- Monthly Net Income - Monthly Cash Flow (Net Income - Debt Service)I hope that helps.

As a B&H operator, I focus(ed) on the monthly cash flow when I bought and now when selling, the buyer STILL gets a great return.It's hard to classify $5400 monthly deposits to my bank account as 'over valued'.It all depends on whether you're buying or selling :-)I see listing after listing that look great with 3% economic vacancy and $3000 expense per unit per year but lose money hand over fist if the vacancy goes to 12% and expenses are $5000/unit as they should be for this type of property.

You're focused on the micro level without evaluating the bigger picture of the economic and demographic fundamentals of the market.

Urbanization is one of the most critical factors for economic growth.

Chad suggested that if he sold his house and free up some money and live somewhere more economical, he may make better progress as an investor.

I'm not trying to sound racist, there are lots of social economic dynamics and historical U.S. data that support my beliefs that racial and ethnic minorities are the driving force of growth markets.

I like taking money out of the stock market as we ride the Dow up to 20k, and placing it in hard assets, that are conservatively underwritten, bought right, and will do fine even in a bad economic downturn.

The most common complaint I'm hearing for investors is that there just aren't enough good deals available.I'm sure part of this has to do with the changing economic environment, and I wouldn't want to see the portals start getting into riskier deals just to keep volume up.