It seems that if you can find a good deal on the purchase price, are willing to do cosmetic updates (floors, painting, maybe a kitchen) you can get that 100-200/month cash flow.  

Although the list may seem intensive, I look at it like this: The total cost of all these items can be much lower than the cost to repair a hidden surprise after purchasing a property to flip. 

Hey Everyone,As many of you know, Pittsburgh is a unique market with a lot of opportunities in neighborhoods where properties can still be purchased for less than $100K.

On the other hand, with an appraisal near the purchase price, that should be enough in this case.

Id like to put a HELOC on it or redelop it after a few years, the whole points of purchase is this is a booming downtown area lot of development rights etc, dont want to be in a financial structure that banks will frown upon. 

Hi all,I am a young newbie investor looking to make my first real estate purchase in 2025.

Quote from @Jeffrey Bourque: Hello All, I am new and this is my first attempt at purchasing a property with the intent to create monthly cash flow.The property: Triplex Listed at $140,000 - Total monthly rent income $2,150 - Tenants want to stay and are all willing to sign new leases for 3 years - 8 beds 5 baths and 3,500sqft livable space on a 4,800sqft lot - Heat and electric paid by tenants and water trash paid by owner $180 month - I have managed to talk the selling price down to $105,000 with a kick of $10,000 for closing and commissions so $115,000 all in - Building is in fairly good shape according to pictures and questions but have not done a inspection yet - some general maintenance repairs are needed according to the seller but nothing that seems to bother the tenants. - Taxes are on the higher side at $6,000 yearMy Numbers: $115,000 putting 20% of my money $23,000 and finance the rest with total expense of $1,834Monthly expense numbers: Future Maintenance 13% $273 - Vacancy 5% $105 - Property Insurance 5% $105 - Property Taxes 23% $500 - Property management 10% $215 - Office/Travel/Legal 4% $84 - Mortgage 26% $552 - Monthly Cash Flow - $316 per month or $3,792 per year so Cash on Cash = 17%I think this looks like it is a deal worth doing and I also believe I can bump the total rent up by $50 each tenant which I think make it even better.

Purchase price: $395,000 Cash invested: $100,000 Sale price: $570,000 Such a fun project!

The best way to see if someone is a reliably paying tenant is by their credit score. 

But one thing is for certain - if it's off-market, you have a much greater probability of getting to the the desired purchase % you are after.