So taking into account part of that 1200 each month has to go to at least insurance and property taxes your break even time gets extended even further out.If you use a mortgage you are taking money from a bank to buy a property that the tenants will then pay off the mortgage.Another way of looking at this:Lets say all things are equal and you end up holding this property for 30 years and you never have a single expense and you pocket all the cash:A 30 mortgage at 5% with 30k down will cost you $483 per month for 360 monthsso if you pocket the excess each month you will have (1200-483)=717 per month x by 360 months gets you $258,000 for only a 30k investmentnow take that number and multiply by 4 because with 30k down you can buy 4 properties and you have $1,032,480so 120K = $1,032480Your way will pocket 1200 per month for 360 months = $432,000so 120k=$432,000 at the end of 30 yearsnow of course there are extra costs included with the above calculations and thats where owning multiple properties spreads out your risk.  

One we expect to return in excess of 100% within five years, the other 70% within three. 

Excessive snow can cause ice damming at the low eaves and valley flashing that will cause leaking. 

After they're out you'll likely have to sue for damages in excess of the security deposit, which will cost in legal fees and be hard to collect on.Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you'll need to be diligent in documenting the condition of the apartment after the move-out, and I hope you have a detailed move-in report as well to prove the condition previous to their tenancy.

Having an excessive amount of bad real estate on their books lowers their credit rating and scares away their investors.

I have a client in Florida that I am trying to help with an overages claim. Does anyone know a good contact that can file a overages claim in Florida.

@Garrett Canter Most umbrella policies provide limits in excess of general liability, automobile and employers liability.

You'll want to keep money in reserves in the event that one of your rentals cannot wash it's own face (evictions, excessive repairs or damages, etc.)

If it's a small area, it's easier to get an even stain finish if you do it by hand with a staining rag and pull off all the excess stain as you put it down rather than using a squeege/roller. 

Once we began, it was about 2 months of work, which is excessive for the amount of work that was done, so I’m not happy about that, but I’ll share why it went longer in my lessons learned section below.