Our cleaning fees for the year were $40k, landscaping $2.5k, handyman $3k... all tasks that can be done by an operator and off set the loss of income from occupying the main house that brought in about $40k for 2024.My wife and I have decided that even though it makes good money, we have been in Texas for a year and we want to do something similar here and we are very much DIY people and don't want a PM company to run it to the ground.

If it costs $500 to fill the oil tank and the tenant leaves it empty, that's $500 less you have to cover unpaid rent, cleaning, and repairs.

We have expansive soils here (clay that expands when it gets wet) as well as some older cast iron lines and even some orangeburg so it's common to see sewer line issues (often just some tree roots that need to be cleaned then the line re-scoped).

This is the onboarding process.The next issue we came across was "How involved do we want to be with the day-to-day operations?" 

Make sure they are just a investor so there are no ulterior motives involved.

It's middle class, low crime, clean & zoned in one of the top desirable High schools. 

Like most things in real estate, a lot depends on the circumstances of the individuals involved and not just the numbers and figures.I hope this helps explain my thoughts, and I apologize for the lack of clarity when I defined "arbitrage".

Who is responsible for cleaning the construction site and keeping public walk ways free and clear of construction debris since you are in CA without the ability to monitor the site?

I assume there’s no realtor involved or they’d be upside down.

I know people that are really good at their trade (plumbing, cleaning, electrician, etc) but they don't have financial discipline, they don't know how to market, they suck at customer service, they don't use tools to their advantage, etc.Cody Sanchez (lady in the video) buys different types of businesses and makes them profitable by applying basic business disciplines.