It is a classic BRRRR strategy.In these three communities, the properties are cheaper, but the taxes are higher.

It's the classic conundrum: C and D properties cashflow, but are nearly impossible to manage, A and B properties don't cashflow, but are manageable.

Look into the classic house hack strategy. 

This is a classic case of letting the tail wag the dog.

Ok, after another classic Mobley ramble (I tried to break it up visually if that helps at all lol), the takeaways are these: We track our data and update dailyWe give you figures backed by hard dataBut please feel free to use whatever figures you think give you a good safety netWe keep our maintenance and (as an indirect extension) our vacancy rates low by starting with new capex items, never deferring maintenance, and being verrrrry picky about tenantingNo house is expense-proof, somewhere down the line we know (and so should you) that bigger things will come upWe look at return on equity because free (tenant-paid) equity is one of the biggest benefits of rental REIAs always, if anyone has questions or needs info, or would like to take a look at some of our interactive ROI spreadsheets to see how the numbers work, feel free to reach out via PM.Thanks again for keeping this thread going, Rob!

Until we have an expansion of the UGB a classic supply and demand problem will be in play.   

Troy, That’s a classic predicament for remote property owners with a smaller sized portfolio.

As I go through this process, as a total newbie, i'm starting to realize I'm not equipped to understand what the the somewhat classic lending scenario look like for this kind of work.

The way it is accounted for typically is in the irr, where in your rent vs buy decision the irr serves as the hurdle rate for your rental investment.Also are you saying that generally you agree it is better to buy than rent in the classic case but in "your" case it doesn't make sense? 

Classic house hack on the small multi-family, the best way to get started IMO!