You should also consider there is a "bottom" price for a rental property -- the damage accrued from general usage, and the risk of particularly bad renters, can

You should also consider there is a "bottom" price for a rental property -- the damage accrued from general usage, and the risk of particularly bad renters, can mean that it's cheaper to leave it empty. The risk of particularly bad renters is accentuated in areas with strong renter-favored laws -- it becomes difficult to get rid of the guy, and to recoup the cost of damage. COVID has made it particularly problematic; if you have a bad renter today, you can't evict in areas where courts have effectively stopped. So they don't pay rent, cause damage, accrue fines, and you can't remove them. In addition, a bad renter can both devalue the property tremendously, as well as accrue an arbitrary number of HoA fines, which can wipe out whatever gains you made on the property. And in COVID-world, a good renter can suddenly turn bad, as soon as they lose their job, further increasing the risk -- and those bad renters are usually bad because they don't have money in the first place, so even if tried the courts, there's nothing to get back