I’m based in Portland, Oregon, where residential investing seems challenging due to landlord-unfriendly policies and negative cash flow on higher-quality properties.

If you pay more, you won't meet your metrics and will probably have negative cashflow and/or equity.You may have to make 10, 20 or even 100 offers to get one accepted at the price that meets your numbers.This is what all investors did BEFORE the Great Real Estate Crash of 2008-2010.

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

In fact, a couple of them became cash flow negative a little.

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

Transitioning from Individual Deals to a Scalable ModelScaling up your distressed property portfolio means more than just increasing the number of deals; it’s about creating effective, repeatable systems that minimize risks while maximizing returns.

I wouldn't have any interest in buying something like this to hold since it would be so far negative cash flow wise on a monthly basis.

Sounds like the person you asked is projecting their prior negative experience with duplexes.

We see threads all the time about people losing money and how after they add expenses and vacancies, etc. how they go in the negative.

Less electricity, no chemicals needed (drain easily and have the proper systems for it), and can have  the same effect.