The math is obvious but there's a natural tendency to go for properties you can obtain at a lower basis.

My only reservation in starting with a PM is that since I'm just starting out I think I want to try managing my own properties at first, at the very least to learn how to do it.

Nothing worse than ordering the appraisal and credit and then realizing your loan won't work for that particular lender because of reserves or seasoning or an equity stake that didn't get taken into consideration.All the bestStephanie

AZ is not prone to major natural disasters so investing there is less risky with regard to those types of setbacks.  

I would assume that it should be blocked off with some type of decorative tile or something of that nature.

This leaves me $700/mo (plus $200/mo in reserves) to pay myself, which seems high for a “house hack”.Hindsight being 20/20, I may have bought out of my price range.

I’m not from the US and currently live in Europe most of the time.I’ve found some apartments that could work well for my needs—I plan to rent them out on Airbnb and reserve a few nights for myself when I travel there for work.My question is: apart from the purchase price (I’ve seen listings on Zillow averaging around $150k in areas like downtown Dallas, Old East, and Plano), what other costs should I expect—both during the acquisition and in monthly payments?

In Ohio, older homes might bring hidden maintenance costs, so that $20k reserve will come in handy. 

I would recommend saving at least 20% down, 12 months reserves and closing costs.

Naturally, this makes some other people (read: voters) unhappy.B.