Here's a list of things to track:- Formal lease application- Formal signed and executed lease specific to your state- Payment history (I recommend using online rent collection like Apartments.com, RentRedi, etc)- Maintenance requests and receipts- Accounting for all rental-related expenses (repairs, utilities, etc) The more you treat it like a business, the more helpful you are to your CPA come tax time. 

and are you certain that the appraisal is based on AS IS value and not subject to value (ie value after repairs)? 

There are a ton of complexities with properly repairing a fire damaged house....they sell really cheap for a reason.

I get rehab draws from the hard money lender to reimburse for the repairs.5.

If we bite off people’s heads when they admit disaster, it suppresses legitimate issues with these techniques. 

However if you didn’t calculate in at least some percentage of the rent for vacancy, repairs, and CapEx then eventually things will happen, such as a vacancy or a repair being needed and you will be out of pocket a much larger amount of money than just your $400.

Purchase price: $90,000 Cash invested: $55,000 Triplex in SE Cleveland (D+ neighborhood)Purchased for 90 and saw 105 for valuation. 25% down plus closing costs and unit repairs has led to about 50-60k going into the deal.

As you look to scale, just make sure to hold/build reserves for when repairs come up and take your time screening tenants as you will find a vacant unit is much less stressful than dealing with a bad tenant.

The asking price is under $125k and like mentioned earlier, the renovations would be 50% so there are major repairs (not move-in ready). 

Unless there is an emergency situation, take a lot of photos and call your insurance agent before doing any repairs.