Rental Reality in 2018

[Will Hanner]

I've seen and heard coooountless stories from investors on rinse & repeat. Where a clear disconnect for me in 2018 is in building equity needed to repeat. I understand the principle but in almost every case, the property was bought for $X, was immidiately worth $X + 15%, then a mere 6 months later there majically appeared an incremental 20% property value increase. The 2018 reality in Florida is a unit purchased at 85K in March is now worth approximately 80-85K. So, my question is; 

How does an investor build the equity needed to rinse & repeat in a sideways/downturning market? 

NOTE: Youtube is filled with stories of buying a propert valued at 60K at 55K, rehabing for 15K, then a Tooth Farry-esque 110K in equity majically appears. Nearly every situation was when the RE market was overly depressed.