What I do for my units with shared meters is I charge 50% flat to each tenant which prevents waste I get no issues with any waste due to this but the ones that share electric bills do get many complaints due to the size of the bill.

I have vacancies where one has been on the market for months.It's hard to give feedback without seeing the unit.

It usually makes more sense and is somewhat easier to buy a 2-4 unit first and then transition into another 2-4 unit or a bigger SFH.

@Liam AlvarezI’ll be a contrarian here.After 46 years in the industry, both as a SFR broker & investor and now as a MF operator with over 1000 units as a general partner…..The best market to invest in is the market YOU KNOW BEST.

@Matt Wan I took out several residential loans on 1-4 unit properties a few years ago.

If you were able to pull out $500,000 in existing equity out of a paid off rental and disperse those funds to acquire 2, 4-unit MFR properties and had the income to support any future CapEx and the interest payments on your HELOC ( including the extra income to paydown the loan ) would there be any " gaps " or problems I'm missing in this situation where it would be a bad enough idea to not go through with acquiring more properties through a HELOC on 1 of 5 properties you own?

If your rate is low on the 5 unit, I might consider the possibility of a line of credit for my equity instead of an entire new mortgage.  

Ask how many units they manage and how much experience they have.

I'm not in that market but I would recommend finding off-market deals, targeting distressed properties, or focusing on smaller multifamily units in less competitive neighborhoods.

Here on the northside of chicago you can get 4 units with class A tenants that cashflow.