@Ella Marie, I can't speak on behalf of your market, but in my respective market, competition is tough, and the successful fix-and-flip vendors are often full-time operating businesses.

My goal per property is to generate a minimum of $500 cashflow per month. 

I've also loved learning about the other 10 markets we operate in.I have two big goals.

However, they approach financial health from different angles.The 50% Rule is a quick estimate that suggests operating expenses (excluding mortgage principal and interest) will roughly equal 50% of the property's gross income.The DSCR is a more precise calculation (Net Operating Income / Total Debt Service) that determines if a property generates enough income to cover its debt obligations.Deal example:- Class C middle class neighborhood- 4bd / 2ba single family house- ARV: 190k- Purchase: 105k- Rehab: 35k- Market rent: $1,400-1,525- Section 8: $1,475- Property manager: 10%- Taxes: 125 month- Insurance $1250 yr- HOA: $55 month- purchased and rehabbed with all cash.

It costs money to own and operate real estate which is why you need a primary source of income. 

I see that REI nation has zero available for Huntsville, and my impression is that  even turnkey operators can't make the numbers work here right now. 

Leads to Contracts: Expect 50 - 100 leads to generate a contract.

Only the above average STR operators are doing well.

Depending on the way their company operates, you filing your property as an investment on your taxes may be considered an issue for them depending on how stringent they are.

So your super basic P&L may look like: $30,000 Rents-$3,000 insurance expense -$9,000 interest-$3,000 taxes-$8,000 operating expenses-$14,000 depreciation ----------------$7,000 loss on paper for the year  so negative taxable income But remember- $14k of that (depreciation) was something we didn't actually spend money on- so cash in bank at year end would be $7,000.