All it takes is one non-payment or messy eviction to set you back months and even years in cash flow.

If you’ve got any success stories, lessons learned, or even cautionary tales, I’d love to hear them.Thank you for welcoming me to this amazing community.

You'll likely need to be in a C/C+ neighborhood to find the 1% rule, but you can still break even or sometimes get some slight cash flow in the B neighborhoods of Columbus.

Many even include a set monthly amount.

It even states that the lease “will repeat itself” but doesn’t specify terms like figures or percentages for rent increases.

But it’s clear you’re a smart investor who knows the long-term benefits real estate can bring.I keep reminding myself why I stick with real estate: you can make money every month in four different ways:Cash Flow – Passive income to live on.Appreciation – Long-term property value growth.Depreciation – Tax benefits that reduce your taxable income.Tenants Paying Down the Mortgage – Even if you’re paid off now, this is one of the biggest wealth-building tools for leveraged properties.It sounds like your main struggle is the stress of active management—and trust me, you’re not alone.

What you’re counting on is even a slow rate of appreciation, say equal to barely inflation, called it 2-3% being multiplied by 4 or 5X because you only put down 20-25%.

Here is some key information:Property recently hit the market and has 2 cash offers alreadyThe seller provided a pre-inspection report, which I shared with 2 different lenders, both think it may fail conventional financing due to potential structural and electrical issues (realtor thinks it could pass conventional)Seller has 100% equity but is behind on other payments (not sure of the urgency money is needed)This is my first attempt at an “investment” property so I’m new to thisI see 3 optionsMove forward with an offer using conventional loan pre-qualification-Not as attractive of an offer to the seller-Possibility that appraiser calls out structural/electrical issues that need to be fixed before closing, effectively causing financing to fail- Best terms and fewest loan fees for meUse a rehab style loan such as ChoiceRenovation-Even less attractive than a conventional offer to seller, but less risk of failed financing if appraiser calls out issues-Slightly worse fees and interest rates compared to conventional-Lenders tell me possibly up to 60-90 days closing in some cases, with red-tape for contractor requirements and draw schedules (sounds like the most hoops to jump through during rehab)Use a hard money lender-Most attractive loan option I can give to seller so I can compete-Much higher fees and interest rate for me-need to refinance into a conventional at the end of rehab (not familiar with seasoning periods but I think this is a factor as well)Which option would you do?

We normally do not seek judgement due to the expense that is involved, even after you win you have to continue to renew the judgement every year.We put them in collections and have it hit all three credit bureaus.

You might want to try tools like Stessa or Buildium for tracking, or even a simple spreadsheet to get started.