Unfortunately, he got behind on property taxes and was struggling to keep up with maintenance, so the place was in rough shape.

Ensure you collect a proper security deposit (typically one month's rent in Florida) to cover potential damages.Your plan to increase rent next year makes sense given rising costs (taxes, insurance, and maintenance).

I find that depending on the market $300-500/mo are fairly normal and if compared to what you would pay with a single family home on some utilities, maintenance, and management, it's a good deal.

Since this four-plex is in my region, I will be the one taking care of maintenance and management while the investor won't have to worry about anything but to receive the money haha.Let's confirm a few things before you get questions from a bunch of other folks on the forum.How much of your own cash/equity are you planning to contribute/invest to this deal?

However, before you do so you should ensure that your revenue from rental income covers ALL your property expenses in the townhome, including mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance/repairs, vacancy, property management, etc...

Their dollar compensation is their free/reduced rent.If you have a lot of maintenance with landscaping or POHs then you hire them as an hourly employee.   

I've now used it twice.The program requires 10% down, must be a rental, no PMI, and has a very high standard of credit.Last I did it (Summer 2022), my rate landed in the low 5%.  

Overall, for every type of property....I would say that keeping up with proper maintenance is what most people neglect.

Maintenance at at PM company or one of the big hedge owners like AH4R, leasing at apartment complex will teach you a lot about applications, fraud, leases, collections, evictions. 

Or if you want to swap higher returns for lower maintenance you can look in to FIG (fourplex investment group_.