Real estate on average does not appreciate at 3% a year; it appreciates at 6% a year inflation adjusted.

You could buy at market value and cash flow depending on your location.But what most people experienced (like here in Florida) was a sharp rise in appraised value (the bubble).And in these areas we are seeing a decline in values currently.

The city is in bankruptcy, crime is rising, police force is being reduced and the bottom has fallen out of the real estate market.

They rise above free market theory.

However, I'm kind of afraid that inflation is going to set in soon and I'm going to miss a once in a lifetime opportunity in real estate.It's too bad you can't make a livable wage out of high school anymore.

My pitch has been to buy REOs or other distressed properties cheaply for cash and hold them as rentals until prices rise again, refinancing along the way for further purchases.It seems an LLC is the best business structure?

It's in both agents best interest to attempt to over inflate the purchase price!

Building builds a few houses and "sells" them to friends at inflated prices.

In a perfect world, investors would be the godsend for ALL buyers but due to the Nazi Socialists better known as Fannie/Freddie, they have devised ways to make it literally impossible for an investor to profit from flipping a real estate transaction.Enter seasoning: They "claim" it is there to prevent future frauds and scams due to inflating RE prices, appraisals, etc.

You don't want to hold cash in the bank because if his prediction of inflation is right any cash will be cut in half by 2019.