Many new investors overlook maintenance and vacancy, and in reality these two expenses can drastically change your expected return.

After april, my wife expects to be able to make $30-50k/year starting out.Where do I start?

To add real value to the rental market, someone has to be responsible and professional to the tenants -- sometimes that pendulum swings towards the property owner and sometimes towards the management mechanism.One of the overall points one can draw from this thread is that it's difficult to find a PM company that fits your personality and performs as expected.

Do you know what kinds of terms to expect?

Not sure what to expect but they did not cover all that was supposed to be covered.

So, finding a project with creditworthy tenants - or, at least, the expectation of finding them is a priority.

OKAY SO THIS IS WHAT WENT WRONG.omg. i had no idea being part of a condo association is so ridiculously annoying. i thought paying assessments would reduce the burdens as a SFH owner since everything is taken care for you. well #1, they refused to let me move in on a weekend but i work 5 days a week and have no place else to go so i crossed my fingers, UHauled my stuff, and hoped i could move in on the day (sat) after i closed. i moved in but the security guard said i should be expecting a fine for an "unauthorized" move.then me, being a complete newbie, tried doing as much rehabbing as fast and as soon as possible. got a guy to tear out all the old fixtures, vanities, flooring, cabinets, etc... got a painter to come in to paint... guess what?

It’s expected that you’ll pay some money for a tour, but you need to ask yourself if the company is profiting from the opportunity itself or from bringing you there!

I'm not disparaging the guy - it just wasn't the format I expected.

All investments have some kind of capital requirement and investors should have the expectation of making money from that capital.