I do look at cash on cash return and appreciation potential, but cash flow is the main thing I focus on so I place a greater emphasis on this when looking at deals. 

Occasionally a tenant has done some significant damage, but so far nothing that was insurmountable.We put an emphasis on offering good rental units (B & C), maintaining them well, establishing keen rental criteria, thorough tenant screening, a strong rental agreement, clearly discussing every aspect of the rental agreement with the tenant before we hand over the keys, establishing and maintaining good relationships with tenants, good relationships with neighbors who will alert us as needed, a good relationship with local law enforcement, regular property inspections, swift follow-up to rental agreement violations, sufficient insurance and a sufficient reserve fund.We stand behind our mission statement:   "We strive to provide safe, clean, affordable, comfortable, and quiet housing for responsible renters in the neighborhoods of West Vancouver."

@Chris Duzan Chris Davis made an excellent point in not placing too much emphasis on entities & just get the proper amount of insurance.  

My dream is to flip houses, with an emphasis on design.

It is an individual decision, and there is no globally correct answer.In my case, I have 3 properties.

In meantime, happy to start small and careful and learn as I earn (emphasis on learn).

He seemed to put a lot of emphasis on choosing your market which I liked but I can't sink $1000 into his system right now.

The US Dollar is backed by the productive capacity of the US economy which is quite formidable producing roughly 20% of global output...

Example is if I am at 80% LTV on asset I may be at 1.35% DCR but to go to 85% or 100% LTV if permitting, I would personally need a much higher DCR depending on risk as viewed from a market and property level, as an example I would atleast 1.50%-1.75% DCR.Some people may look at it like the above with Debt Coverage Ratio (DCR) on the individual property level or they may look at it from DCR as global cash flow perspective with all personal income, business income, properties, notes, and other investment cash flows or cash flow activities net at the end of the day and stress test that to make sure the debt provides enough mental, emotional, and financial safety for the given increment of additional risk by borrowing X dollars.I would love to hear other views on how debt is managed or how debt preferences are formulated.

Name is Tom Suba and I currently work in the field of global logistics.