EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

I'll save you the details but...Per door cost: $63,300All in Cost: 700kTotal Revenue: 137k(ish) annuallyNOI: 65-73% (in the expenses we included: insurance, taxes, $75/month per door repair expense, management fee 8%, grass cutting, & a misc fund for random crap business license, etc.)Now...

Now, if she had someone she implicitly trusts to manage it, as though she were present, that might work, but the added costs would probably make the endeavor non- profitable.  

Double the cost of that house and double the rate to 7% and its like $4,000 per month for the EXACT SAME HOME. 

While it may seem unfair to offer financial incentives to problematic tenants, sometimes it’s the quickest and least costly way to regain control of your property and move forward.Lastly, connect with local landlord associations or advocacy groups.

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

Yearly increasing costs will, in time, eat up any profit they have per unit.

I know that i could buy my next multi family property as a primary residence close by move in, rent half live in the other and than rent where i am now which would cash flow upwards of 1k monthly, or i could buy another multi as strictly an investment property out of state which would be a lot cheaper (taxes and cost of property) and a lot more landlord friendly laws than New York, i guess i’m just undecided on which route i want to take and I’m trying to weigh the pros and cons of each scenario.

If you think you will have it for less than 4 years I would say go with the HELOC because you have less origination costs.

If you were able to increase the value of the property significantly after the rehab, then you could bring the deal to a community bank  to refinance and take the hard money lender out.You keep all the equity and don’t have to file a partnership return for your annual tax return, which can be costly.