I remodel homes for a few house flippers and am always looking to take on more projects to keep me and my team working steadily throughout the entire year. 

Fear of what I don’t know about RE investing and making mistakes was definitely holding me back, but now, another issue has risen- the actual pain of dealing with tenants and trying to learn property management on the go, and it is holding me back a bit from adding another property.

--I knew we had made a great buy on our Primary residence, so after a year had elapsed I secured a 130k HELOC as our home had risen from its purchase price of 258k.

Wages have not risen anywhere near the rate of the cost of goods.

Quote from @Huston Kennedy: Steadily or Steady? 

Have you looked at Steadily?

My rents have typically risen much faster than my taxes and insurance.

One last piece of advice is to raise rents slowly and steadily with the market rate, so you don't find yourself having to raise it significantly to "catch up".

Just 42% of the inflation index.Now just because real estate prices are over long periods of time always going to rise nationally,...because inflation is simply a force that can not be stopped...that does not mean all markets move in step with one another.

We have almost daily discussions on how well we're meeting our weekly and monthly expense goals and targets.It is much easier to make money and spend what you make than it is to steadily accumulate wealth and not let it slip through your fingers.