It's not just about slapping a price tag on stuff; it's about effective communication and making sure you get those green bills in your hands.

Actually you'd never hit that because eventually the debt pushes you into a margin call and forced sell and you'd be at or near $0 in just handful of years at best. 

Appreciation on the other hand is the biggest piece of the real estate pie.

Are you trying to hand your “friend” a 50% taxable gain that you’re going to keep?

One of the REPS cases (I forget which off hand) they were basically like...petitioner states they spent 8 hours on X date supervising painters at the property and we find it highly unlikely that anyone would sit and watch paint dry for 8 hours. 

It’s not about chaining yourself to a rigid model; it’s about giving yourself a reliable starting point, so when the next tempting deal in Phoenix’s midtown corridor pops up, you know it fits into your broader strategy rather than just hoping it’ll magically work out.At the end of the day, nobody’s going to knock on your door and hand you a neatly packaged portfolio.

Gaining a risk-free property, with a long-term resident there to pay down your fees, etc, with a property management company in place to hold your hand along the way and making sure your property is kept up with. 

If you think you'll hand it off to your PM to run and take the great amount of passive income as your great reward, there is so much more to it.  

Also, my brokerage has a handful of investor clients that actively run MTRs and STRs in the area. 

The one cost will be getting the units furnished, but if you live in the area it isn't hard to source a bunch of decent 2nd hand furniture on Craigslist or FB market