Duplex Investment in Cleveland

[Daniel Smith]

Hello!  I am hoping to close on a Duplex in Cleveland in the next few weeks and I've been reading as much as I can on this site.  I was looking to get advice on anything and maybe a few specific things.

- What are common and avoidable pitfalls with new MF Investors/Landlords?

- Is it a gut instinct on how high the rent should be, according to market, and having didn't tenants that you don't want to lose to a rent raise?

- What are common and avoidable mistakes newbies make with contracting a Property Mgt. Company?

- This is jumping ahead:  How do I get my next property?  What's the fastest way to another downpayment or loan?

Some background:

I live in Los Angeles but the rest of my family lives in Cleveland.  I only have about $30k to invest so it seemed to make sense to try to buy an investment property in Cleveland because I would need 5 times that to try and buy something where I live (to invest in or live in).  I have a great support system in Cleveland as I am the middle of 7 kids (I'm 45 years old) so my family knows A LOT of people and vendors (real estate agents, General Contractors and even Property Mgrs).  

I had $30k saved and was stumped on what to do and read somewhere on here to invest in a $100k property and I thought....where the hell are there $100k properties in any decent markets. I started looking in the 'up and coming' neighborhoods getting gentrified in Cleveland and there are/were plenty of duplexes for $60k - $150k.  I found that my cap was $100k....but there wasn't much difference in properties that were $65k-$80k and the properties that were $90k-$100k so I looked for places in the lower end of my span landed on one for $75k.  I just had it inspected and we're waiting on the report.....