If you want it to run well, you may be spending a lot of time at the property.

Their income is only 3X rent, they lack credit history, and the household is much larger, which could result in more wear and tear.

You spend a giant pile of money before you make a dime of revenue.

So many "investors" bury themselves in complex, expensive situations to protect themselves from some unknown threat to their non-existent business.Figure out if you have any shooting skills (or even enjoy the game) before spending money on $600 Nikes or an indoor basketball court. 

So your super basic P&L may look like: $30,000 Rents-$3,000 insurance expense -$9,000 interest-$3,000 taxes-$8,000 operating expenses-$14,000 depreciation ----------------$7,000 loss on paper for the year  so negative taxable income But remember- $14k of that (depreciation) was something we didn't actually spend money on- so cash in bank at year end would be $7,000. 

Stop hanging out with your deadbeat buddies who spend all day drinking, talking sports, and otherwise wasting away.

Hope to spend more time here in retirement.

An appraiser likely isn't going to spend time giving you much feedback in advance (unless you have a connection or they are super slow).   

My Name is Miles, currently living in Arlington (DFW Area), I've always had intentions of at some point getting into real estate, now at 40, and finally at a place financially that it is feasible, I'm planning on spending the next 6-8 months learning all I can (and then rest of my life continuing learning lol) before taking the FIRST plunge.

Is spending thousands on a sprinkler system worth it or do I have other options?