Typically, the initial upfront for the rehab is either cash or a high interest loan (hard money or private). 

In fact, a couple of recent studies have shown that working with a broker typically saves about $10,000 on a residential mortgage.

Is there typically an ROI?

The cons as i see it include loosing the 2 of 5 year cap gain exception, typically not an ideal rental because the emphasis at purchase was buying a good home for your family and not a rental with optimal return (my ex-home consistently has the lowest cash flow for equity in my RE portfolio), not disconnected enough from the property causes addition angst on damage and may result in over improvement.  

I am swamped right now with my rental renovations & furnishings I am finishing up plus I typically work late, so I haven't been able to make it much lately.

Instead of 40 houses cash flowing $200 each or $8000/month, you buy 10 houses and pay them off for a cash flow of $10,000/month with 1/4th the headache.People don't understand the amount of time, energy, and stress involved with managing a lot of doors, especially if they are lower-class properties typically needed to generate cash flow.

You must exclude the land value, typically allocated based on property tax assessments or an appraisal, as land is non-depreciable.

I'm not a typical Realtor perse looking for clients so I don't need the trust factor that may go with the REALTOR symbol in my marketing or anything.

A good investor friendly agent typically does “driving for dollars,” from what I’ve heard, and they might have a direct line on off market properties.Eyes on the Future - At 19, you can stack up quite the portfolio over the next decade.

:Class A Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 3-5 years for positive cashflow, but you get highest relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% the more recent norm.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 680+ (roughly 5% probability of default), zero evictions in last 7 years.Class B Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 1-3 years for positive cashflow, decent amount of relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% should be applied only if proper research done to support.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 620-680 (around 10% probability of default), some blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 5 yearsClass C Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, immediate cashflow and at the lower end of relative rent & value appreciation.