Let me tell you it can be a roller coaster!

It may not be that 15-20% speculative roller-coaster appreciation, but one reason I diverted funds from equities to RE was to find some boring-but-reliable growth while also throwing off enough cash to--once scaled--replace my wife's income when she is ready to retire and pay for the extra expenses of a special needs child in the meantime (I'm already semi-retired; attached is a picture from my Monday afternoon.)I'm 52 and feeling the age thing for sure, with 3 levels of cervical fusion less than a month in my future.

The rental market is a roller coaster here in Palm Coast.  

Its sort of like bungee jumping or roller coaster for the first time.

I do know guys who practice this, and are proud of it, telling you "now that I have the property under contract, I'm going to take the owner on a roller coaster ride".  

For buy and hold, my area (Bend, Oregon)is good: endless sunshine, ski mountain, 30 golf courses, excellent infrastructure, and all the baby boomers still have to retire sometime.This area has a history of roller coaster real estate prices: high highs and really low lows.

Maybe I'm being a bit too optimistic but here's a good article on what's going on right now.It does feel like being on a roller coaster :lol:http://www.kitco.com/ind/Mladjenovic/may032011.html

Don't get your hopes up, though, because owner- wise, there are virtually no west coasters in Onslow county.

Its been a roller coaster ride!

This was one of the worst roller coaster rides I have ever been on to date.