Our strategy is to buy and hold, benefit from the positive monthly cash flows, and sell after about 5 years of stress free property management.The issue I am having is selecting finishes that are reasonably affordable (dare I say cheap), durable for renters, and still get top $ on an appraisal when we go to refinance. 

Our strategy is to buy and hold, benefit from the positive monthly cash flows, and sell after about 5 years of stress free property management.The issue I am having is selecting finishes that are reasonably affordable (dare I say cheap), durable for renters, and still get top $ on an appraisal when we go to refinance. 

The borrower should always ensure they have a solid estimate of how long their project(s) will take and run various scenarios of numbers to select the most optimal terms.

If you get this under contract ASAP, have all of your ducks in a row for the lenders (borrower PFS', property financials, etc.) and make a lender selection quickly, I don't see why you couldn't close by the hard date. 

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Management is impossible to select until you have picked and vetted a firm- while it is an operating expense, you're likely going to pay from GOI...so assume closer to 12% NOIYour vacancy is pretty low, but it's all relative here...I would at least set aside 1-2 months gross rent for an unexpected turnoverIf you can insure a 4-unit property for $150/mo. you have an awesome agentAssuming 50% of your income will go to OpEX is pointless.

Selected tenant is now botching payments in month #2 of lease. 

I have written about this topic a lot, because its an often confusing and tiring conversation for most.The facts are easy thought;If you want to be hands on and very involved (i.e. reviewing paperwork, interviewing trades, selecting materials, etc) then you shouldn't hire a GC.

So start building a team while selecting a market to concentrate on.

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