They all happened well after the crash of 2009, so I don't know what the explanation would be. 

Then the 2008 crash happened and I lost a ton of  money, but paid all my debts then took a job out of state.Recently I got back into it with money I made on the sale of my last personal residence.

Plus you'll learn more from doing that first deal than any kind of crash course you can take.

I appreciate the quick crash course. 

How did you arrive at your $120/month?

I know that is a key element in arriving at an appropriate MAO.

I would save my money for the next market crash.

February is so much better and by the time March arrives things are great.  

If the plan is to hold for 5 years and sell, you’ll have 5 years of projections and a cash return at the end of 5 years equal to sale price less any costs associated with the sale.To make a deal attractive to a passive investor, you can work backward to arrive at a return.

One of the things I think is most hopeful is looking at what flippers are actually paying to purchase the house, and what they are actually selling them for.What I find is the greatest mistake is they look at what they can sell it for......then they subtract sales cost, they subtract what they think is the renovation cost, then take a percentage off that number to arrive at what they want to pay for the property.