Think of a fair way to nominate a newb. 4.

Prices could go up nominally.

So, instead of having "expenses", which include a nominal allowance for vacancy, of $1600 a month, your's will be more like $2300 a month with the rent you're not paying.

When I was looking at leasing (I ended up buying instead) they told me that if there was ever a time the roof needed to be replaced, they would come out and take the panels down for the work to be done, then put them back up for a nominal fee.

@Jacob Pereira Well those increases are pretty nominal in the grand scheme and wont change your important results significantly, and could very well be offset by the increase in rent (which appears to be very reasonable given your market).

Intrigued I sat down today to crunch some numbers:Assumptions:Expenses = rent*.5 rent = .02 * value of propertyDebt Service (5% for 30 years assuming 25% down) = .2013 cents per dollar (constant amount)Math:per $1 of rent, expenses = $0.7013$1 - .7013 = .2987 income per dollar of rentI want to earn 100k/year on rental income(X rent)*.2987 = 100,000100,000/.2987 = $334,784 rent income per year to give me 100k incomeRents are 2% of value..so 334784 * 50 = $16,739,203 in real estate required to produce these rentsDown payment on all this property = 16739203*.25 = $4,184,800 cash required to purchase these100k return for 4,184,800 invested = .02389 = 2.39% return.Assuming 2% REAL appreciation (5% nominal - 2-3% assumed inflation)Real Return = 4.39%These rules suggest I need 4 mil in cash before I can retire with my goal income and the rate of return looks terrible. 

I bet that is retail pricing though and if I found new windows for a great deal and labor the savings would be nominal.

If we put his house into my name and he sells it to me for a nominal amount say $5000, are there any tax consequences to him or me?

Two Reasons: 1) You can buy a perfectly good washer/dryer for pennies on the dollar in the used market. 2) When it breaks (IT WILL BREAK) a good used appliance vendor will exchange the appliance for a nominal charge. 

That said, I do invest in SFR that have HOA with nominal (~$100 per year) HOA fees.