You wont wake up one day and fine your mutual fund has decreased to Zero!

As you can see I have some initial upfront costs (higher monthly budget) but then it decreases.

I'm getting into a home in Pine Hills which has outdated galvanized pipes, which are rusting and decreasing home water pressure.

Value-add from increasing NOI through various methods of increasing income (below market rents, rehab and increase rents, RUBS, etc) or decreasing expenses.

In California the property tax is based upon the purchase price, so lowering the PP will permanently decrease you annual expenses (thus will increase your cash flow permanently).

ADVISE: I made $120,000 in 2017 and was planning to buy a house to decrease taxes.

I cant see why I would want to refinance & decrease my cash flow by refinancing to significantly higher rates. 

May have an opportunity to decrease insurance costs - is that a hard number you've been quoted or estimate?

@Sergey Pshenichkin It does not sound like she has an ideal situation to be purchasing a rental property...maybe focus on personal debt pay down for a while and continue to work her W2 job until she reaches a higher income.Increase income --> Decrease expenses --> Build credit --> Build savingsThen revisit this possibility.

This calculation also assumes that personal exemption and itemized/standard deduction weren't used to further decrease the income.It appears the gain will be a lot lower resulting in a lower tax.