It's like eating cake; it's fantastic, but moderation is key.

Piece of cake ;) 

If the property is in the black with the in place rents then great, any increase is icing on the cake.

And the cherry on the cake is that you can get them cheaper than "block" most of the time.

You can't have your cake and eat it too.  

Guess we get our cake and eat it too.  

If there is no special occasion and they are just visiting to enjoy the area, we get them local gifts such as a local cake for their stay. 

That equates to a 2.4% cash on cash return.You need to find a place to park that money that will generate you a 7%+ return (with a $100k invested, that is cash flow of minimum $580 per month).The icing on the cake with rental property is principal pay down, appreciation, and tax benefits.You're right though... buying multiple rental properties is much more challenging than the gurus make it seem. 

UPDATE:I had the city inspection last week which is a piece of cake to pass.

It is mostly about Rootstock and similar, but it had a mention of how small local turnkeys could go bad with a link back to one of the BP threads on Morris Invest.https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-new-housing-... for a national article not bad on balance.. and pretty accurate I think most folks on BP understand you cant buy a rental house in cash flow markets and exit within 5 years without taking a capital loss. its a long term play.. let your tenant pay your mortgage off that's been the basis of rental investing since day one.. get those suckers paid for let someone else do it.. positive cash flow is just icing on the cake.