It's a bit expensive, but do it once and forget about it. 

The LA fires will drive rates up for everyone and is now a major line item expense.

Quote from @Erick Pena: A "good" rental property is one that covers all expenses (mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance, property management fees, and any other costs) and still leave a surplus (commonly referred to as cash flow).Calculate cash flow as: Cash Flow = Rental Income − Operating Expenses − DebtThere's much more to it, but that's the basic idea.

"Good" areas will be priced high, "Bad" areas will be priced low. 

Using the appropriate amount of lights and mirrors is a pretty low-cost way to really make the space feel custom.Unique tile installation patterns such as vertical stacked or herringbone.

@Jaycee Greene Yeah it is easy for one to get discouraged when buying this type of project but I must say they are decent when trying to start low and build capital, that way you dont have to deal with **** properties or mediocre neighborhoods again. 

I have a very low risk tolerance for stock and many other market driven vehicles. 

The math behind Real Estate is not that complicated, Revenue - expenses and debt service = cash flow. 

At one time, I told people to spend money on a skip trace so they could file the in personam QT lawsuit (the one where you can served lawsuit papers on all defendants) and avoid the expense of the in rem QT lawsuit (the one where you need a GAL).

And someone jumping into this as a complete newbie can expect that they have a decent chance of making some expensive newbie mistakes.