Not so long ago, rents never kept up with rising costs of property ownership, so even after all the tax benefits were factored in, investors were committed to a net negative cash flow. This was rationalized with assumption that inflation would raise the value of the property to a level at which monthly payments would be recovered with a profit to boot.

The deflationary environment which began in 1981 burst a lot of speculative bubbles, but even now tax liens investors commit themselves to ownership of property knowing that there will be negative cash flow and less potential for appreciation.