I looked into the maintenance option years back to discover a trend of:  apx. 8% monthly fee which only included rent collection (everything else from maintenance to turnovers etc, extra, and poor reputation on repairs.)

I learned how to do many repairs myself, I showed all the homes myself, and I made it work.

It doesn't cover any loss of income due to your rental being repaired.

This was an Oct 15th acquisition and took about 2 months to clean out and repair/rehab. 

I bought 1 House out right, I am refinancing for 100k. had 1 renter paying 1000. using the refinance to purchase the second property, and putting renter for 1400. it will also need 25k in repairs.

After a bit of back-and-forth on the repair costs, I negotiated it down to $69,000, convincing them the extent of repairs was higher than they initially estimated.

After a bit of back-and-forth on the repair costs, I negotiated it down to $69,000, convincing them the extent of repairs was higher than they initially estimated.

Set aside reserves for unexpected repairs or vacancies.

. - This will allow low down payment and the 203(k) allows repairs to be financed into the purchase mortgage.- The 203(k) will allow you to bid on properties that need repairs that won't qualify for a traditional mortgage => less competition => better purchase price.You will need to find a great local contractor you can trust to supply the required bids to qualify for the 203(k).- After closing, you can do some of the work yourself to save money, but the program doesn't allow you to pay yourself.You will want to buy a Class B property, maybe Class C+, in an area that seems to be improving.

There are still a ton of roofs with blue tarps needing repair/replacement and some debris sitting curbside.