Sure rent has increased, but the number will put you massively underwater right off the bat.

Not a lot of distressed sellers underwater on loans.

I would estimate that with their overhead and market drop, they are probably 40% underwater. 

It seems to me like, both before 2023, the only worthwhile properties I might acquire by foreclosing on a tax lien certificate are the ones where the owners of record are dead or hard to find, and underwater properties.How about now?

Probably approaching $100k in total.My options seem to be sell and pay an additional ~70k out of pocket to the lender (underwater amount) or make the repairs and hope the problem is corrected once and for all.

A deal may have a good cap rate, but when you factor in repairs, acquisition costs, and debt service, you could still be under water. 

But, as we enter into a down cycle (we just don’t know how bad it will be yet) “experienced” and inexperienced people who have done Creative Finance Deals can find themselves underwater and missing payments and in deep trouble with the law.

Hold on, I have 2021/2022 on the phone for you, they're asking if you are interested in a 100 unit 1960's Vintage Multi-Fam property called  "The UnderWater" at a 3.5% Cap rate....Wait, Blackrock just said "Hold my Beer" and offered all cash at a 3Cap, something about subway tile Backsplash should double NOI in 3 months.perhaps modify "It is never a bad time to invest in real estate." to "at a good price". :) jus playin' It is all based on an individuals ability to invest in real estate in a ethical manner.

The fees and overall costs of these loans needs to be a key factor including what if the project goes over time . . . . you can be underwater in no time.Underestimating repair costs and overestimating ARVs based on Zestimates are the next stumbling block.There's money to be made but make sure numbers all work WITH contingencies defined and overages expected . . . remember, a project will always cost more and take longer than initially thought!

If I want to borrow money to increase my returns either a mortgage for the house or a margin loan for stocks, I can borrow money at 6.5% at 5x leverage (20% down) on the home taking my returns from 8-10% to 14%-20%.To borrow money for MSFT, I can only borrow at 2x leverage (50% down) but I pay prime+2% (or 10%), so my expected returns go from 15-20% to 20-25%.However, the loan for microsoft is a margin loan, so if we go into a recession and I end up underwater, the bank will force me to sell my google shares to pay off their loan.