Goals for rental properties

[Nick Brown]

As I prepare to invest, I have the Pro membership, I watch endless videos and listen to every BP podcast, I've bought the books, etc, etc.

"Start with the end in mind."  What is my goal?  I am simply looking for 'a little' cash flow.  Not looking for 300 doors, 100 doors, or even 50 doors.  I would just like $1500-2000/month supplementary income above what my retirement accounts are going to supply as I roll into retirement in 10-15 years.  

Monthly cash flow.  That's it.  Long term appreciation, loan paydown, etc... that's all icing on the cake.  But I'm only looking for extra $$$ coming in each month.  That being said, as long as I am diligent with the numbers on the calculators, I get a good property inspection and find that the property is sound, and do my best to get good tenants, what else matters?  What else do I need to be mindful of as I'm shopping for property number one?  If I ONLY focus on the goal of cash flow/door, is there any risk that I'm setting myself up for?

If you're loading a smart *** answer, please just keep scrolling. 

[John Morgan]

@Nick Brown

I jumped in with zero research and knowledge. It’s definitely not rocket science. You can whip up numbers in just a couple minutes to see if properties will cash flow good enough. My advice would be to jump in if the numbers seem decent. Don’t over analyze and wait forever. I started 6 years ago and have slowly picked up 11 properties. If the numbers worked, I jumped on it and made offers. Closing on one in two weeks that I only drove by and looked at for less than 1 minute. Made a low offer site unseen. Comes with a tenant too. Lol