Start small, ensure your numbers (purchase + rehab + holding + selling costs) leave room for profit, and build a reliable team (contractor, agent, lender).For financing, work with lenders who specialize in fix-and-flips. 

RE is supposed to be a long term investment and an asset you hold on for a long time and take care of4.

So, what is happening today is not as important as what will happen in the foreseeable future.If rents are increasing faster than inflation (I use 5% per year as an average rate), then it may be worth holding the property, since your cash flow will increase as rents rise.However, in your post you stated, "Mortgage rates have kept increasing as well, that's why I put a range on negative cash flow."

Investment Info:Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Most of the “deals” have no meat left on bone except for maybe a long term rental hold after repairs.They ironically sponsor a lot of the meet ups I’ve been too here in DFW. of course they do they live and breath on newbies..  

They'll require that you fill out a bit more information, and even ask for a picture of you holding your driver's license next to your face to confirm your identity.

You’ll need a real estate attorney experienced in creative financing.Land Trusts for Extra Protection – Many investors in Illinois use a land trust to hold title when doing subject-to deals.

Having professionals we can call to see how backed up they might be factors in as well - if we can't get a roof done ASAP, that holds everything else up if we have a leak so again, more time, more holding costs, lower ROI.Unfortunately I do not think there is a magic metric that can tell you if the deal is a winner or not. 

Find Brandon's videos on YouTube for the "four square" method of analyzing homes and practice.

I was holding approximately 20 of their properties at that time, so you can imagine that unexpectedly paying out 20 interest payments every month was impossible.