Trying to analyze a fourplex

[Arionna Barajas]

Hello everyone, 

I am semi-considering buying a fourplex in Clarksville, TN for $400,000 with my VA benefit and living in one of the units while managing this property with my husband.

The rents are currently at $895/mo for units built in 2012/ 3br/2ba each. 

The MLS reports says the gross income was $20,585. Not sure why that was so low? Maybe all units were not rented out? Expenses were $2008 and NOI was $18,577.

I have been reading 'The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate' and 'The ABC's of Real Estate Investing' and it seems that with those numbers that would only be about a 4% cap rate which is not good at all. Am I correct in that? 

Common sense tells me that the rent should be a little bit higher in these apartments which are close to a big army post where even the lowest ranking soldiers make about $1100/mo for housing allowance. Why would I not be able to charge more rent, fill all the units and bring the net income up? 

Obviously, I am very new at this so this may be a big leap. My other option is to use my VA to buy a much cheaper home and then use a conventional loan to start buying cheaper investment properties.