This will vary depending on if a handyman can do the job or a licensed contractor is needed.

Never fully trust anyone that isn't willing to share the negative aspects of all this.As I'm sure you've experienced, this can be a very rewarding path to take and depending on your grit and determination, overcoming all the pitfalls are well worth the effort.Cheers and drive safe!

Depends on the area.

This will all depend on how good of negotiator you are. 

@Makani Donaldson it all depends on your investment goals.If you buy a Class A rental, it'll usually have negative cashflow, which will be hopefully offset with appreciation and better tenants.If you buy a CLass C or D rental, it should have pretty good cashflow because you may not realize much in appreciation and you'll have a lot more problems finding good tenants.

Everyone's favorite answer in real estate---"it depends".That being said, you have to start somewhere to figure that out.

There are MANY landlords with properties on the west coast and in the New England states, that deal with negative cashflow - but, depend on appreciation to make their rentals "profitable".

Quote from @Paul Lucenti: It depends what you're looking for.

Hi @Zhong Zhang I have used vacancy hacks over the years to get personal properties under 1% when turning tenants over. 3% increase depends on renewing or getting new tenants, when renewing tenants that's  a safe amount. 

***depending on how far the house is from the coast, you mayalso be required to have a separate Wind or Hurricane deductible.