Even with buying down the rate, I would not expect to get better than low 6's in the best of scenarios.

However, appreciation is very low in cheap areas.

A low maintenance condo rentable to good tenants sounds like a good starting point to me.I’m 56 and reasonably setup for retirement, so real estate is a stabilizing diversifier for me.

Make sure you buy it low enough to make it worth the trouble.

However, I like that there isn't a lot of work to do and I could still make the property really cute with not much risk.Inventory is so low.

Happy New Year, everyone!
Getting right to the purpose of my post, with all the relevant context: I’m 52 and living near Seattle. I have a good FT job in education administration, but I want to retire asap, focusing ...

Cost per lead (CPL) is crucial—it shows how much you're paying to get a potential seller or buyer’s info, and you want this as low as possible without sacrificing quality.

After 2 years you can apply for a “Rent consideration” (I think that’s what they called it) as long as you still live there and that may allow you to increase rents by more than the annual allowance (probably designed for unit that are very low rents).

Why do you put a window that low in the bathroom? 

Margins seem low and the risk seems high.