So its no major mystery that these are not performing as advertised..

For simplicity, I've assumed no principal paydown on the original $300,000 mortgage.After two years: $400,000 × (1 + 8%)^2 × 75% - $300,000 ≈ $49,920After three years: $400,000 × (1 + 8%)^3 × 75% - $300,000 ≈ $77,914After four years: $400,000 × (1 + 8%)^4 × 75% - $300,000 ≈ $108,147While the above example is oversimplified, the concept is valid.

Originally posted by @Greg O'Brien:A lot of questions around a balance sheet. 

@Guenevere F. you're going to need 20-25% down to get a mortgage.If you target $100k, that won't leave you any funds for closing cost, maintenance or emergency reserves.You could try targeting around $80k, but the $16k-$20k down payment would still not leave you with enough.If you buy under $80k, you're probably buying such a low-end property that it is unlikely to meet your performance expectations.

I'm originally from BR and still invest heavily and lend there. 

We have found that setting our expectations about what we want is helpful (financial performance, level of renovation we can handle, forced equity opportunities, number of bedrooms, etc) and then waiting for a deal to materialize. 

Proceeds could be reinvested in better-performing assets across multiple doors.Our goal is to build appreciation over cash flow, acquiring 1-4 doors/year to allow my wife to retire by 50.

There are other soft roles that listing agents perform, but those could be done a la carte on an hourly basis beyond the five or 10 hours included in the 0.6% rate.You're kidding, right?

Property was on market for about 170 daysI originally started the STR plan for tax benefits and plan to do cost segregation as i fall into high income bracket (37%+ 11% state) saving around 50k for 600k property.I have no plan to personally use the property and this is purely investmentI thought i found a great deal because properties in the area are selling for 205-220 per sqft.

. - BUT, it also appears old and probably a symptom of the original house settling.