this thread is enlightening as these are some of the same questions I've had @Lucas Mills..i currently have a 4unit (2 duplexes) and i live in one unit and currently bringing in $3700 per month in income..Mortgage pmt $3148= $552 surplus, but i do pay utilities which average around $500 a month for all units so i usually have $30 to 50 left over.

seconds and surplus

I'm a bit on the conservative side but in this current market, I don't feel too comfortable leveraging a property beyond 70% loan to value unless I am CERTAIN the funds are going to generate a significant surplus of equity on the other end.  

@Asib Yussuf I'm not experienced with the Jacksonville market but I can confidently say there are a surplus of investment opportunities (SFR and multi-units) in Atlanta.

$126 - sheet of laminate (I already had contact cement)$62 - cabinet pulls/hinges from Amazon$133 - tile from a surplus store$120 - paint/primerand about $175 for wood to make the new doors.

Now depending on the situation and what you want to do...I would use the surplus toward the mortgage itself.

We would have in my market a surplus of options at, around, or just under 1% monthly rent to purchase price ratio.

In markets where there is a surplus of rental housing supply in the C-class asset range, it can be very hard to find tenants.

The do not limit the size of the array you connect, but they do "reset" your account to zero on an annual basis ... so, if you have a surplus on the anniversary date, there is no carry-forward into the next year ... hell, they don't even send a thank-you card ;-)As a consequence of the utilities approach to consumer generated energy, solar and wind have not really gained traction here.

While there are surplus of information on starting out  and finding deals(YouTube)(Courses), it was somewhat difficult on finding information on starting out as a landlord.