EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

Originally posted by @Eddie Torres:@Natalie Kolodij Standard or foreign LLCs in California still cost $800 annually unfortunately.  

You have to put 5% down vs 3.5% down, rates are usually higher, but if you have strong credit, your PMI cost can be cheaper than that of FHA loans. 

If they tenant is $300 below market, that's costing you $3,600 a year.

We almost went with a loan that we have to pay all the cost upfront and then get reimbursed on the back end and that was just not something we were willing to do.

Over estimate the costs and not need them?

However what happens when the tenant vacates and now the unit has to be turned over/takes a few months to find a new tenant and during that same period of time the sewer line goes and you get hit with that $15,000 cap ex expense in addition to the vacancy and turn over costs.

Especially for the cost.

Whether the seller was open to a buyer commission or not, I wouldn't put an additional cost into any personal purchase.  

From there we identify properties that could have some potential and if you are interesting in diving deeper, 1) we do a thorough video walkthrough to give you a realistic look of the property, 2) we give a ballpark estimate of rehab costs (we do 40 a year with our GCs o we will get pretty close), 3) we talk through market rent with our property management team, ARV, and potential highest and best use.Ideally you find great investor agents who know their market really well and have a network of resources to provide you with enough confidence to take reasonable action.