Or, keeping the primary home and building a smaller “Granny Flat” on the first lot and building a duplex on the second lot.

Add $230/month for water, sewer, and garbage on a two flat.

As long as the property cashflows no matter what the market does either goes up, down, or flat I can hold the property for the long term.

**Moving Forward**I've been saving then buying.I figure between the 4 rented units and the fact that i *agressively*  save at my W2 job.I could recoup the 25% downpayment in about a year.. and repeat. ( similarly priced duplex)While inventory of such is low around here, I'd LIKE to get into  a decent 4-flat..at that point i'd likely move into it to take advantage of owner/occ items..specifically < 25% down..WHAT should i be looking for as i grow my portfolio?

I am in the process of making my basement a legal flat and wanted to know if it made sense to get a pro to outline my idea. 

The only negative is the closing costs but it's just baked into the mortgage.

However, with depreciation, the recapture is at a flat rate and is not based on your income tax bracket. 

Is there a flat roof?

I'm willing to give him $3k to move back into his three-flat while i front the renovation costs of his single family home. since I'm paying for renovations, after the sale and i'm reimbursed for the renovations, is a 50/50 of profit too much to ask for? 

I provided the office basics (phone, paper, files, etc) and a flat fee of $500/month and 95-100% commission.The key success in this model is to track expenses...each agent gets a login for printing copies to keep the abuse to a minimum etc.