[smeej]

Speaking only for myself, I don't really care very much about what someone else did in a different geographical market under different economic market conditions, except as a curiosity. I can't assume any of what they did will work for me, so what's the point?

What's holding me back is that even though I'm interested, I tested the RE waters a decade ago and hated everything about being a landlord except the money, which wasn't nearly enough to offset how much I hated it long enough to get to a point where I was better at it and it sucked less.

[pettycashstash2]

Exactly this. Real estate is highly localized, and economy has a lot to do with success/ failure. The folks who do well are specialists, and disciplined to be able to surf the ups and downs of any market condition. I second that it would be a cursory curiosity. Plus the home shows have done this ad nauseoum

[ginkoutest]

Would you be more interested in RE then if you were exposed primarily to properties in your geographic market with a strategy that is specific to the macro-economy at that time / effective across different economic conditions?

[ginkoutest]

Did you try using a property manager? For me, it's mostly been hands-off relying on my PMs to manage all my rentals. Every now and then I will have to step in regarding an issue with a tenant though, for sure. But it seldom occurs, so hasn't been much of a headache for me.

[smeej]

At first, I was living in the 3-plex and renting out the other two units, so I figured it made sense to do it myself. I didn't account for the fact that selecting my own tenants without experience meant choosing awful neighbors, nor that I wouldn't even be able to go after them for damage after I evicted them because they knew where I lived and I couldn't trust them not to vandalize my things further.

When I moved away, I tried to hire a property manager, but as I only had 3 fairly low-priced units, none of the established managers would take me on. I naively hired someone who had strong references, but for commercial real estate, not residential, and she made the whole process such a nightmare that I gave up and sold my units. (It had become impractical to step in for her when she failed over and over again.)

Once bitten, twice shy, as they say. I took the 50% increase on the value of the property and the 3 years of covered housing expenses combined with massive internal resistance as a pretty good sign that I didn't like the process even when it was profitable.

I might try again someday, but I value the lack of stress an awful lot.

[ginkoutest]

Accounting for the 50% increase, it sounds like you walked away with a profit then. If you invested a small fraction of your monthly cash flow into a good property manager, it sounds like RE would be a good fit for you. You know the game (having had direct experience), you're aware of the financial returns on your initial capital (as well as tax benefits), and a PM would save you from the headaches you went through in the past. Is that a fair conclusion on my part?