With the new laws in place there are fewer STRs in town, but the same demand = able to charge more. 

You will benefit from the education and networking, but more importantly, you can position yourself as an expert in the multifamily nicheIntern for a multifamily investor: find an experienced investor who is currently doing what you want to do and proactively add value to their business for free to get in the doorStart small: start with an SFR to 4-unit and work your way upAs you will notice, all of these strategies are time consuming.

We plan to live in the upstairs unit which has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and rent out the bottom unit as it's more updated and will need fewer renovations (if any, really - it's actually quite nice)...

The 203k is by far the most time consuming.

Whereas if you ask another company which has fewer properties in that area or zip, you could get a lower rate since they don't have as many eggs in that basket.It does and it doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I was told this by an insurance agent and eventually got my head around it.

@Jim Goebel I agree, it definitely takes away from the privacies of the consumers.

I wrote a blog recently about some of the overall trends and gradual evolution of the PM industry primarily focused on the evolving consumer services expectations.

The consumer thinks.

All the lease option/executory contract issues only apply to consumer transactions (intended for personal use and enjoyment; that includes 1-4 residential units). 

My expenses are $1100 mortgage, $250 utilities, $100 consumables, $150 miscellaneous expenses.