You have to buy right, know where the market is headed, know ALL of your expenses and know what your various "outs" are before you commit to a property or you will lose your shirt.  

That being said due to the number of sharks out there I would only spend money that I can afford to lose. 

@Rafael Ramos All your goals contradict each other:(1) Cashflow: buy Class C & D properties2) Appreciation: buy Class A & B properties3) Low Crime: buy Class A & B properties4) Why would you want your investments to lose money to lower your taxes?

Trust me; you don't want to miss those crucial dates and risk losing money or even blowing the whole deal.

But it is very risky and you can lose all of your properties if things go wrong.

That's before you pay any debt service.To answer your question: No, it's generally not a good idea to lose a bunch of money every month.

For example is a personal loan from a bank is 7.5 % that you could use as a down payment (after its seasoned), and your 401k loan is 4.5% but the 401k is expected to return 7.5% per year the money you save on one end you miss out on the other end basically and if your 401k returns are 20%, then you lose out significantly. 2.

So give those folks the choice...go pick veggies or lose your welfare payment.

Mine was also out of state, in a town I’d never visited, and I relied heavily on videos from my agent.This sounds like a tough first deal, but it seems like you have some capital on the side, which will be useful as you face the upcoming challenges and learn from those expensive early mistakes.Regarding the subject of this post, “help me adjust my expectations,” I’d recommend assuming that; repairs will cost twice as much as you estimate, maintenance and vacancy rates will likely double from your initial projections, there’s a very real chance you may lose money on this deal.That said, there are ways to mitigate these risks by:- Keep asking questions here on BP and connecting with local experts- Stay proactive and communicative with your agent and property manager.And remember “Inspect what you expect.”Im not trying to discourage you but to help reset your expectations.

but, should you buy a money pit and lose thousands or tens of thousands of dollars?