Their fees and interest rates were high, but they had the least restrictive approval terms from what I gathered.

Because a large percentage of the charges are base fees that do not change based on use!

Fees can be sneaky—markups on maintenance, random charges for inspections, lease renewals, etc.

I have always used Zillow/Redfin to find property and then use other tools to verify and evaluate details about them (like finding out how much rent you can get,  confirming property taxes on the county website, HOA fees, etc.). 

As you alluded to, sometimes a passive note investment purchased for monthly payments “goes south”, and becomes an active participation investment, with plenty of additional capital required for legal fees, forced place insurance, and property taxes.  

I am finally at my two year mark not being W2 so if I can skip past DSCR loans and the such that would be much preferred as I dont want to pay the fees if I don't have to as I am trying to get some money I put into each unit to renovate back out of it. 

@Tyson Regier  I agree with Megan, and would add to her list Annual fees associated with each llc to keep current/registered with State.Annual Tax filings costs...

Here's the deal:Purchase Price (PP): $95kRenovation Budget (via HML): $60kTotal All-In Cost: $155kARV (After Repair Value): Around $200kRefinance (via DSCR Loan): 7% interest, 30-year fixedRefinance Details:After the refi, I will pay back the Hard Money Loan (HML) at 11.95% with 3 points:HML: $60,000Interest/fees: $3,585Other costs: $1,800Total to pay back HML: $65,385After the refi, I will have $84,615 left in cash.Cash Flow & Expenses:Expected Rent Income: $1,700/monthProperty Management (PM): $126/monthInsurance: $100/monthTaxes: $126/monthMortgage: $1,043.75/monthTotal Expenses: $1,395.75/monthSo my monthly cash flow is about:$1,700 - $1,395.75 = $304.25/month in cash flow.Return on Investment:Cash Invested After Refi: About $18,385 (after paying off HML and closing costs).Annual Cash Flow: $304.25 * 12 = $3,651Cash-on-Cash Return (CoC): $3,651 / $18,385 = 19.8%I didn’t account for maintenance costs since it’s a full gut rehab, and everything is brand new.

this is JUST FLAT INSANE what they people have done..  

I am going to manage it myself, so that will add another 180 to the take home, and yes, the 175 was after everything: management fee, capex reserve, projected maintenance expenses, and I assumed 93% rented (7% vacancy per year), etc.