well, ill take an amateur stab at this, im getting into this game and i like numbers, 425k with 20k down means a 405k loanlets assume an interest rate at 5% and 30 year loan term, 5k yearly taxes and a PMI at 0.5% and we will assume that insurance is 1500 yearly, PMI = 168.75 MnthlyInsurance  = 125 MnthlyTaxes = 416.67 MnthlyTotal = 710.42Principal and Interest  = 2174.12Total Payment Mnthly is 2,884.54now you have rent at 1250 @ 3 Units = 3750 Mnthly3750 Income - 2884.54 guaranteed expenses (expenses that wont fluctuate) means you will have 865.46 leftover after those expenses, out of that 865.46 you have to account for landscaping, sewer, water, trash, maintenance, whatever else you may have to cover utilities wise, my recommendation is that this would be a very bad investment, say you broke even and relied only on appreciation to make money, when you factor in vacancy, which will undoubtedly happen, you are losing money on this deal

Some people include it in the rent but I did not want to do that since the bill can fluctuate with consumption. 

Taxes to high, to many HOA’s, prices seem to fluctuate way to much for me.

When I received the updated loan packet from my lender, the fees now look like this:Updated Loan Cost Estimates (These are the numbers in the disclosure sheet I received yesterday in response to the updated contract)Loan Origination - $0Survey Fee - $325Title - Environmental Protection - $150Title - Escrow Fee - $695Title - FL Form 9 - $173Title - Gov't Surcharge for Nat'l & KEL Title $3Title - Lender's Title Insurance - $1,195Title - Title Examination - $250Title - Title Search - $195Total - $2,986I know it's possible for some fees to fluctuate during the closing process, but I am getting the impression that some of these fees are either junk fees which don't need to exist, or were known all along and not disclosed to make them seem like a more appealing option.  

What are the implication of these fluctuating Tax values in future...Thanks

What scares me about appreciation is it can fluctuate significantly.  

I have looked at the historicals for many of the houses on the same street and they are selling for the same price that they were bought for 10-15 years ago and show little fluctuation in between.

I got that, but as a lease has a term, when it expires you can always give Notice of Change in Terms w/o making a mess of the lease.I never raised rents on a scheduled basis but made adjustments as the market fluctuated. 

There are drastic differences in rental rates and desirability levels depending on location... although Portage isn't a large city, it still fluctuates more than you'd think.

I figure mine at 20% and fluctuate it from 15-20.At:10% =$58658.52 which equals no equity except the down payment.15% =$39105.68 better20% = $29329.26 bestI am not familiar with the area however I would definitely ask what are the cap rate ranges for the area.