If you’ve got strong tenant demand, proximity to top employers, or even access to public transit, you’re laying a solid foundation.

Avoiding the occupants from squatting is best addressed with background checks, employment verifications, and references before signing the lease.

This location is in a 1mm population metro area, 230 units, and cost is about $1,800,000 all in.Limits of Insurance: Coverage:Liability and Medical Expenses$2,000,000/$4,000,000 Occurrence/Aggregate Comprehensive Business Liability$2,000,000 Any One Person Personal & Advertising Injury$4,000,000 Aggregate Products Completed Operations Aggregate$2,000,000 Any One Fire Fire Damage$25,000 Occurrence Customers' Goods Legal Liability Deductible: $0$25,000 Aggregate Sale and Disposal Liability Deductible: $1,000$10,000 Any One Person Medical Payments $1,000,000 Occurrence Hired Non-Owned$300,000 Each Employee Employee Benefits Liability$25,000/$25,000 Per Claim/Aggregate Employment Practices LiabilityLoc Class Desc Coverage Limit Ded Valuation Type 1 Self-StorageBlanket Building & Business Personal Replacement Cost Property $2,100,000 $25,000Earthquake IncludedSinkhole IncludedWindstorm or Hail Included 5%Business Income Actual Loss Sustained 24 MonthsPollution Clean-Up & Removal $100,000Employee Dishonesty $15,000Money & Securities - Inside $10,000Money & Securities - Outside $5,000Accounts Receivable $25,000Electronic Data $20,000Valuable Papers & Records $25,000Fine Arts $10,000Employee Personal Property $10,000Limited Pollutant Removal $25,000/$100,000Cosmetic Loss Limitation IncludedEquipment Breakdown Protection IncludedPremium, Fees, and Taxes: BOP Premium: $ 7,760.00Optional Terrorism Premium: $ 31.00Total Premium: $ 7,791.00Key notes:a.

I grew up in that area, and it's not great - declining population, stagnant economy that relies on 1 major employer (Caterpillar).

I did all my other due diligence like asking for paystubs, W2s, Tax returns, Employment verification, bank statements etc etc and did not see any red flags overall.

I am currently employed as a project engineer working for a GC that builds multi-family projects.

But, they will be in challenging parts of town where realistically you do not want to own property and your long-run returns will under-perform.I'd encourage you to find a balance of sub-market growth, nearby employment, strong income, and only then a good rent-to-value ratio. 

Thus, I have worked 2 jobs (1  is self employment) for 7 years to fund purchasing a few single family homes locally. 20k is not enough to purchase IMO, that should be your savings AFTER your purchase.

Having watched many prior co-workers get paid, cash their check at the casino, and promptly deposit it all into a slot machine I can tell you with pretty good certainty that casinos don't have a positive effect on disposable income and good use of the existing income in the area surrounding :)Are there solid local employers OTHER than the casino in a 15-minute drive? 

Given that I am self employed, a few personal loan options, did preliminary asking about my situation, and they got lost in the weeds with how my real estate income looks so dismal on tax returns.