As an investor, your best bet may be to look for motivated sellers who will be flexible on the price and/or the terms of the sale instead of looking for a property you will like and then negotiate with the seller. In order to appropriate the opportunities usually presented by motivated sellers, you must know the values of the properties in your local market to enable you spot a good deal when you see it.
investment in rental properties for cash flow can help the investor float through bad times and live well during good times. Without any fear of contradiction, I make bold to say that cash flow from real estate is stable and far more predictable than most other businesses.
Recessions do happen and values of properties do fluctuate but, experience has shown that because of the dynamics of supply and demand, location, growth in local population etc, properties will always almost increase in value
With investment in real estate, you are in control of your financial destiny and not tied to some monthly hand-outs from some employers or glued to constant fear of lack of returns on some other types of investment.