Hi from Minnesota

[David S.]

Hi all, I am a new investor interested in buy and hold rental property investing. I'm looking to purchase my first real property soon. I live and work in the Twin Cities, and have a day job as an engineer.

David

[Dustin Smith]

Quick point about the questions regarding your prospective rental property you made a couple days ago, I would be a little more liberal on your expenses. Unless you've actually figured out every detail of the typical monthly expenses on the property, including repairs and major capital expenses, be conservative in your estimates. You'll be a lot happier letting a potential deal walk than investing in a deal that ends up being less than desirable. Not sure how new you are to this, but here's a good reference tool for roughly analyzing a property courtesy of Mr. @Brandon Turner 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQmChuIW_sY

Also, I'm not sure about your specific area, but I'd factor in at least 10% gross rent for property management even if you're looking to self manage. #1. It basically provides you with a paycheck for your time, meaning that your cash flow is straight profit and #2. If you get wildly successful, you'll likely want to ditch the responsibilities of property management, and including the PM expense in your initial analysis will allow you to pawn off those responsibilities when the time comes.

Best of luck!