I recommend using the military 10% savings, any bonus or tax free, hostile fire,etc. as seed money to start your investing. 

They don't pay their business gets boarded up plain and simple.The tenants making improvements is also a big bonus.

Gross rents on all 4 is $3,500 a month, netting me around $1,800 a month profit.Now, I got my bonus check from work (new job by this point) and that's going to be used for the down payment of my 7th rental (we close in a week and a half).From 2011 to 2014, I was netting $250 a month in rent income from 1 property.  

(Bonus: Then start going to their meetings :))

Appreciation is both a bonus and a negative (due to paying higher property taxes and insurance).

Also, as an added bonus, he LOVES Detroit and has not looked back to LA.  

Assuming theres no major issues, all thats left for value add is curb appeal which could be a bonus for me.

It was funny in the rental application where it asked for landlord references ... we owned more rental property than our to be landlord :) Anyhow, fast forward a year and we had become familiar with the area, the job was ok, we had been saving like crazy for a larger down payment, as an added bonus the market had softened and prices actually had gone down.

who has run with this idea- they are getting OTHER people to put the decals on their window, with a bonus paid to that person for any deal that comes through them.

I also hesitate NOT to allow animals because it feels like everyone and their brother has an animal in CO and pet rent is a nice bonus to the bottom line.