You are correct I do invest in San Diego which means I have some expertise in the San Diego RE market:- According to CoreLogic San Diego ROI is better than New York’s for this century.

If not, keep the emotions in check, the deal of teh century is around every corner.

Sun,Here is the way I would evaluate this deal:Gross Rents: $1,681 per monthOperating Expenses: $880 per monthNOI: $881 per monthMortgage: ($24,000, 30 yr, 8%) $176Monthly Cash Flow: $705If this were all true (and I HIGHLY DOUBT IT), this is the deal of the century!

To give you an example of what exists in my neck of the woods:4 plex - 4 one bedroom units - century home - approx 700sqft each unit rents for approximately 800-900 per month on the safe side.Asking price : 649900$... 

P.S. love your investor intelligence IQ test, especially the question surrounding deal of the century, family, what do you do...

(The gross monthly rental income was $250 for a SF Home if that gives you an idea.)My husband is currently a program manager and has experiencing rehabbing houses and completely converted a turn of the century duplex into a SF home when he was in his 20's.

This particular house is located in the Century area North of Pensacola on the FL / AL border.

He's really good; he was previously the lawyer for the Century 21 office in Pasadena area and also the lawyer for my bf's mom who owns a RE brokerage as well.

Springfield was a very wealthy area in the early 20th century and then fell into decline.  

millions of people have been in your exact shoes.....Real estate investing hasn't changed much in the last century and chances are it won't in the next century.