First Buy and Hold Rental

[Anthony Conrad]

I’m looking for my first buy and hold rental and I am having trouble making the numbers work with my current strategy. I’m looking for feedback on if I am being unreasonable with my expectations or if this makes sense.

Goals: Long term investment. Appreciation with some cash flow.

Criteria: Targeting extremely desirable local markets. Small multi family or single family. It has to be a property I would be willing to move my family into.

Challenges I’m running into:

The market is hot in my area. Prices reflect that. By the time I figure cap ex and paying myself property management fees, every deal is a break even at best from a cash flow standpoint.

Appreciation will likely be there and I can afford to sit on it but is that too risky? Am I focusing too much on the profit over and above cap ex and management fees?

Any feedback is appreciated.