I have an excellent consultant who helped us a couple of year back.

While cash flow can be limited within the downtown area, there are still excellent opportunities for cash-flowing rentals in surrounding regions.

“it is VERY hard to screw up when buying i.e. a duplex in good condition in a desirable neighborhood and either self-manages or hire a quality PM to manage.”excellent point 

However again if your bound and determined to buy the physical assset then you need to buy quality not C class.. you will NOT get consistent cash flow like you are thinking your will. you will have tenants stop paying you will then get NO rent for 2 to 6 months as you evict and then spend thousands rehabbing the house they just trashed..

Excel template?

Here's a rough copy of the excel.

Our goal is to be perfect and since that is almost impossible, the next best is excellence.  

On paper returns, look excellent but when you put it into practice, you don't seem to get the same kinds of returns. 

Once you have this team in place, you should have the foundation to invest in any market confidently while not being there physically.

A duplex could be an excellent choice to help you ease into multifamily without feeling overwhelmed.