Comment: I just think you don't yet understand why someone would buy property to rent it out. If you bought property and rented it with a mortgage attached or no mortgage to make it simple for you. Your interim goal is to generate positive revenue, but if the property never increases in value. Then you would accept a lot of downside from issues (maintenance, external factors, bad tenants)and it would make it a poor investment vs alternatives. You obviously don't understand there is a bond market that has far less downside with a better pay out ratio. Or are just ignorant and maybe this is going way over your head.

So yes any smart person who buys and rents out property does it as part of housing speculation. To use the banks money to leverage your gross and involve it with market speculation in that the property will go up in value over time.