Looking at long term value charts can be helpful, but don't forget that there are many external factors that can affect the appreciation trends, such as inflation, quantitative easing and demographic trends.Let me finish by making an analogy between learning to invest in real estate and learning to swim.  

First mistake, provided a free incentive to please and secure your tenant, you should always stick to the rules, you must charge accordingly, always enforce pro-rated terms, if/as stated in your contract ease terms.I always like to say that an exception, quickly extends into the rule (As a general rule of thing, we absolutely do not bend on any rule and enforce every element (within reason))Another view is that if you are the individual, the owner, the landlord, the point of communication, it is more difficult to distance yourself from the emotional element, sometimes the emotional attachment to the asset, will shut down your business side of thinking for a brief weak moment, you must restrain from that.

I also choose KC out of the top 5 cash flow markets for the proximity and ease of traveling to from DEN because of my family life ( kids are 5 and 3).

My personal goal is loftier than that, with visions of passive income and accrued wealth we can use to ease our lives and give our children an extra hand up when they start out as adults.My general plan is to buy and hold within our city, rolling over all cash flow and refinancing when appropriate to increase our number of properties.

The ease of investing with a complete turnkey company, that has all the pieces in place and an excellent reputation, is of great value to someone who wants  to follow a relatively passive investment strategy.  

Wife takes care of newborn twins and looks for small time broker who will let her work part time as she eases back into work.Year 3: Keep day job.

If this continues, banks' loan business will eventually falter and there will be pressure on them (and the government) to ease lending criteria further (they have already dropped credit score requirements to 580 in some cases). 

Tracking spending, then making a budget and sticking to it will help ease your concerns about having enough in savings to cover you while you grow your business. 

Looks like you would benefit most from an institution that offers the biggest ease of use online and with limited fees associated with it.

We buy and dozens to hundreds of properties per month and have done so since the late ‘90s.Around 2005 I had a SQL relational database custom designed by some bright local guys to the tune of about $300K to ease the processing pain my staff was experiencing.