Who is your market for lower cost housing.  

Heck, you process debit cards if you insist for 1/10th the cost and non-reversible. 

To save those costs, you might want to stick to some year build and older, for example, if you cannot do inspections on the properties that you are buying due to off-market deals or something else that is hindering you (all sellers I buy from do not want anyone in the home till we close).

What about the second and third year when you no longer have the labor-intensive initial setup?

You could certainly reach this demographic, but it could also cost you substantially more than the return.For the money, your best bet is probably a dedicated website for your property with the key words that you want to convey.

However, I still struggle to understand the art of estimating rehab costs. 

Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers.

Here's a fundamental explanation to get your juices flowing:Assume a house costs $200,000 and rents for $1,500.

Let me know if you'd like to set up a meeting since we are local.

For residential multifamily properties (1 - 4 units), can you use a home warranty to take care of the repair costs associated with rentals?