I think you have found a way that works, but if holding that debt is extremely expensive it may not be worth it. 

One disadvantage of mini-splits is their inability to work effectively at extreme low temps, which we are bound to get a handful of times in Chicago.

Go to Etsy and search for "rental property tracker," and you will find hundreds of nice spreadsheets to track 10-20 rentals, usually for under $10.Software has extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button, and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports.

I believe when you add a 3rd unit they do some extreme things like require you to add fire sprinklers throughout the property which is prohibitively expensive.

Using our own cash we bought this at a extremely discounted price.  

I am extremely hard working and will do whatever it takes.

The contract he signed with them was extremely pro seller, and I think he figured he would eventually foreclose/evict them and we would never know.The guy was a joke, fraud charges were filed by the DA on him, but going after him for any money would have been a waste of time.

Hello Ilya,Where are you looking at purchasing your 1st property.When converting a property from a single family to a multi family, you will need to check on the zoning requirements, depending on your location, not every location has zoning.As far as lending goes, it is far easier to finance a single family up to a quadplex, than financing 5 plus units, the DSCR Market for 5+ units is extremely low right now, and there are few if any lenders in that space.For financing 1-4 units, there are Millions of dollars chasing those loans, so you can easily obtain long term financing, at rates between 5-7%.Please reach out if you have a property identified, and I can help you with financing options.

CocRoi, Cashflow, and dscr would all be helpful as well as expenses Hey Samson, I have several S8 properties in Detroit and I'm extremely open with my numbers and performance of those over the years.Happy to share if you're interested (or anyone else).That would be extremely helpful!

It will only get worse.Hard pass unless he brings an extremely narrow expertise.