When doing your calculations - be sure to include principle, interest, property taxes (what your new ones will be - not what the current ones are - because after 1 year they reset to what you paid on the property), property insurance, and a maintenance reserve (we use $100/door/month on maintenance).  

Getting your license is a solid move for sure as it opens up more doors and opportunities. 

Besides, since they did the design/drawings, regardless of anything you do or sign, they will ALWAYS be responsible for any problems (real or fake) that comes from anyone using their plans.  

You are already ahead of the curve because most rely on number of doors and cash flow as their primary purchasing criteria which leads them straight to the C/D neighborhoods. 

If they say "it's to cover marketing" then I would argue they probably aren't professional and just charge it because they can.The leasing fee is charged per door, meaning you will pay it every time they place a tenant in one of your rentals.

Hi Katie, I wasn’t sure where to start in SoCal either but what I’ve done is I bought a SFH with a detached garage in riverside county.

And yes you could invest the money for a deal ... but lets be STRAIGHT . with 2k you get the basic education / foot in the door.

I’m especially interested in hearing what the average cost per door per month is for property accounting.

I live in the RTP area and have been here since 2013, I am interested in SFR and Multi (4 or fewer doors).

You'll probably want to get enough doors via LTR first then build your in house team.