@Dennis GallagherIt's my understanding that the "Income-Expense Ratio" primarily use operating expenses as the expense variable, which includes costs like utilities, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, repairs, property management fees, and trash removal, all of which are considered when calculating a property's operating expense ratio (OER).You calculate OER by dividing the total operating expenses by the gross operating income of a property.

Landlord shall be responsible for paying any Homeowners Association(HOA) dues and property taxes for the Property.I was wondering if I should add a additional rent clause for the sewer just so I have my base covered in case tenant try to get "smart" with the lease.I think you're fine if that's in your lease to bill them.

The question is which one will have lesser of a tax burden.

It is always better to start with a multi-unit 2+ so that if something goes wrong, you still have one tenant to cover necessary expenses (mort, taxes, insur, etc).Also, major renovations are not a great idea for starting out as others said, especially out of state.

Turn-key would likely be the smoothest, but I am open to a fixer upper if the numbers work.As far as the unique funding, I am an equities investor with accounts held in trust and therefore my taxed income is quite low which limits my options unless I opt for a portfolio loan or separate entirely through a DSCR loan.

Also, the owner expressed concerns over the capital gains tax early in the discussion...so I am thinking the opportunity to do vendor financing will help me get a good purchase price and help the vendor with taxes.  

Your current home would rent for $1800 and PITI (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance) is $1250.

End up with all cash and little to no tax.Your wealth snowball ends up a lot larger 10 years down the road when you make and keep your money in a more tax efficient way.

Don’t forget you’ll get 20-30% of the rate increase back in tax savings. 

If you need financial help, ask under the "Finance, Tax, and Legal" forum.