I'm not saying that we are on a bubble that is about to burst.    I am just looking around and not seeing how any of these homes are that great of an investment.  I think that they could be decent investments over the long run but I am beginning to think that by the time you are done looking and analyzing all of the different properties you would be better off just working some overtime or more on your business (non-real estate).  I don't see a big drop coming just a stagnation that brings very little return.  Looking to the near and mid future I see interest rates going up which should have a negative effect on real estate prices, as investors that don't want to be in real estate can invest in something more liquid bonds etc.  At least where I am (and I think this goes for the majority of the coasts), I don't think renters could afford much higher rent.  

Here is a quick "typical" scenario would love to here your critiques.  

Invest 50k in buy 200k you get 4k in appreciation and in my area you will have a hard time cash flowing.   But I am going to assume for the sake of argument you are a super stud and found a deal that cashflows 2k per year, and you have about 2k in debt pay down.  Average stock market gets you 7% which is 3.5k without doing a damn thing.  Houses seem like a lot of trouble and risk for an extra 4k a year. 

I want to believe that I can still find financial freedom with buy and hold real estate in five years or so? But I have trouble believing the numbers support it any longer.