Buy & Hold Rentals - Rent X vs Capital Appreciation

[Sammy Paul]

I am relatively new to real estate investing. I just bought my first property. I have a back ground in banking so I've been involved in rentals/construction/development for a while, but this is the first time I've put my money in.

Since my purchase, I've been turned onto this site. I would say that I'm more risk adverse than most on here and cash flow is more important than ROI or any other factor so I bought my first house with cash.

I was able to purchase my first house and get it rehabbed for 2.8x gross rents. Now that it is cash flowing nicely, I'm considering adding another property to my portfolio using leverage.

I was very happy with the gross rent multiplier I was able to get my first house, however, I do not believe I will be able to get much capital appreciation from the property - I do not plan to sell and I think I will be able to get out for what I have in it, but I don't think I would be able to get much more than that.

Here's my question. For you buy and hold guys that have been doing this for a while: Which is more important to you? Gross Rent Multiplier of Purchase Price OR Potential Capital Gains?

Thanks in advance.