You will have income (rent), but then you'll have expenses: taxes, insurance, repairs, turnaround cleanup, eviction/attorney costs, vacancy factor etc.

I have a deal set up with an insurance company that uses this for when they have a flood or fire and they have to put their insured somewhere.. 

It's possible to consider a single-family investment, but even then, it would be quite tight accounting for the down payment, closing costs, insurance, etc.

Make sure you're paying attention to taxes and insurance as well!

Lastly, make sure your tenants have renters insurance to cover their property.

Basically scale in paper and challenge it with your personal time, resources, desires, finance, insurance, PM, etc.

.- I went to a top college and have a very stable career with great income.

Pros: Diverse job market, low unemployment, great resilience during recessions, nice appreciation, 1% rule can be hit if you look hard enough, great economy, good schools, Midwest nice.Cons: Extreme weather at times (hot/humid summers, tornadoes/hail, brutal cold in Jan/Feb), high insurance premiums, property taxes also really high.

@Dennis GallagherIt's my understanding that the "Income-Expense Ratio" primarily use operating expenses as the expense variable, which includes costs like utilities, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, repairs, property management fees, and trash removal, all of which are considered when calculating a property's operating expense ratio (OER).You calculate OER by dividing the total operating expenses by the gross operating income of a property.

Invest in a security camera—we had a break-in where someone lived in the house for days and stole appliances, which insurance didn’t cover.