Owner Occupant Question

[Justin Cantrell]

Hey everyone,

So this is my first post and for about the past 3 months I have been doing a ton of reading about RE investing. I am really excited to try my hand at what will hopefully be an excellent long term investment...the problem is my wife is not ;-)

She has a fear of any small business, so to help convince her (and learn the ropes) I have been looking at duplex, triplex, and quads and being an owner occupant. The issue with this is she wants to be in a nicer area, which generally cuts into cash flow…

My question pertains mostly to a specific property, where I believe positive cash flows can be made.

The property is 3 - 2br 1.5 which are currently rented for $725 each/mo and a 3br 2.5 bath (where we would move into) that rents for $825/mo.
Price - 225,000
Property taxes are 7,000 annually (ouch) :-(
Monthly Rents of 2,175 * 8% (vacancy) = 2,000/mo
Insurance of 1,200/mo
Repairs/Maintenance @ 15% = ~5,000
Downpayment of 10,000 makes mortgage – 1,000/mo
Taking all this into account net cash flow is - (1,200) or (100) per month

So basically we live for about $100 a month in rent and once we move out the potential should be there for positive cash flow. Does this sound equitable? Does anyone have any experience with owner occupancy? Any recommendations? Skip it completely :-)
I just want to make certain that I am not overlooking anything.

Thanks for the feedback!