Covering a significant portion of my mortgage has been a great reward.Solution: My four levels of vetting have helped me find quality room-renters over the last 18 months.I think you already have the answers to your situation.

I profited well but not enough to cover 6 months if they were all slow months.

I want simple - quick picture as soon as I leave the store, so I don't have to track expenses.  

We recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

Yes we were successful winning bidding wars 3 months ago using the family postcard technique;) Basically, we added a cute picture of our family along with our offers (which were based on conventional financing) and our “humanity” made us win over the cash offers.

House hacking lets you live in one unit and rent out the others, which can help cover your mortgage and generate some extra income.

Until then, hopefully you can charge enough to at least cover your expenses. 

I would agree with Chris, I would not use debt to cover all costs and then hope to get a good pop on the sale to cover all the debt, payments and still have some in the end to make a profit to do it again.

Diving into creative financing options like you’ve done shows initiative, and you're clearly thinking about the big picture.

Does the cost cover all portions or are there "upsales" where more "services" are provided?