If you are setting aside funds for capex, taxes, insurance, or other expenses that don't occur monthly, transfer those funds to Savings each month and hold them there until it's time to spend them.

I have not thought of using DTI instead of 3x the monthly rental amount in order to qualify an applicants income, but you made a great point regarding the priority that tenants might give a car payment.

Assume a couple of months of vacancy, consider potential unexpected repairs (like HVAC or plumbing issues), and test the numbers with rents dropping by 10-15%.

I found it researching after many months.

Can you then decide to list and sell the house two months later...yes.

We routinely turn off boilers during the summer to prevent them from running to keep up to temp all the time during the warm months.

Do your homework first - then you'll be ready for a more meaningful conversation with a landlord.Best...Thanks for your response. so I have researched the rates and I understand that screening a tenant is crucial. mu biggest concerns are the carrying costs until a tenant is filled as I’ve heard the process can take up to 3 months to find a tenant.

House hacking seems like the best strategy for me.My goal is to purchase a single-family home in Maryland, D.C, (from lurking I've heard D.C was terrible for investing) or Virginia with multiple rooms where I'm making monthly payments similar to what I pay in rent and other charges ($2000-$2500).

Gross rents are $1,250.00 a month and we have a two-year lease in place currently.

The only times this makes sense is if you are in a really hot market, especially seasonal ones where you might have 100% occupancy for the summer months or something.