For a 3/2/1 of 1200 sq ft, you can easily rent it for 1650 which is what I did last week for a lease break out and had a tenant move in 3 days after the vacancy.

That's $1680 per year for QBO, plus my Bookeeper at another $500 a month to log monthly statements, break down loan payments, and reconcile.

Things break and issues occur every day of the week, uplanned. 

There thinking some clean-up-fairy comes swooping in with a broom, washes the ashes away and then Bob The Builder n all his friends comes hot on the hells, Bing-Bang-Boom all is rebuilt and were singing kumbayas by Christmas.......Reality is it took about 10 years to rebuild post katrina. 

Most 3BR turnkey homes are closer to $285K and upwards, so with money more expensive, and minimum rent of $1800... possible break even scenario.

@Olivia Blake how much money will you potentially lose by strong-arming a tenant and then having them break the lease early - or even just not renew?

i'd pick a market close by, or that you have a personal connection to, or that you visit often.chasing cash flow by itself can lead to negative outcomes - for example, these investors bought in supposed "cash flow" markets:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/1215726-break...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/963/topics/1195280-expe...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1137397-balti...hope this helps.

Even if you rent at a break even or slight loss, if you could have 3 years of rental income offsetting your mortgage while realizing 3-6% appreciation, could be worth it, especially if you think appreciating for this area will exceed national averages.

But coming close to break even, especially when using Interest only debt(HELOC), I'd say probably not a good idea.  

If you want something that looks nice Article and Castlery have some great looking stuff without breaking the bank too bad ($2-3K range).