I capture the receipts as soon as I leave a home improvement store and it has saved my butt because those receipts pile up fast when you're in active renovation on multiple properties. 

Regardless, you might find the copy & paste info below helpful:)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

It's an easier way to get your feet wet as a landlord without the stress of handling major renovations.

I was in a similar position a few years ago, but fortunately got married and our combined incomes helped us qualify for a larger house hack.We're on our second one in NOVA, Alexandria to be exact, and instead of rent by the room, we are renting out our walkout basement on Airbnb to monthly guests.That said, we have a number of friends doing well with rent by the room across NOVA, though they're purchasing homes with 5+ rooms or finding homes that can be renovated to include that setup.I'd recommend attending meetups such as the one I cohost, NOVA REI or Cashflow Breakfast Club or any of the others to meet those who are house hacking.

Most of the private lenders we deal with don’t require appraisals, never set foot on any of the properties they finance for us and, best of all, often finance 100% of the purchase price and renovations.

Hey Andre,If you are up for it, I would highly recommend buying a home that you can do renovations on to force equity!

Since they say they don't want to leave, I wouldn't try to force them out until the end of lease term if they are paying (it might look like retaliation) but if you really don't want a cat you could.Here's what I would do:I would tell the tenants that they need to address their issues with the renovations with their own insurance carrier not yours.

You can get a "renovation heloc" which will give you a heloc based on the ARV of your property.

@Rae Chris Ann Arbor is pretty expensive, so difficult to find cashflowing rentals.You may want to look in Ypsilanti - if you want to stay in your area.Otherwise, Metro Detroit offers a LOT of options.Read our copy & paste below for some helpful info:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Nothing is better than MLS access for before-renovation comps and ARV.