Of course there are plenty of turn key providers that suggest folks buy in the roughest areas no crime in that but 15 to 20% caps which is what he spouts constantly with no acknowledgement that he is really selling these properties ..

Once you have experience and learn to budget for occasional big ticket cap ex items that every house has whether it’s 100k or 1M, it becomes really hard to make any profit.

In the Bay Area, most HOAs actively restrict less-than 30 days rentals in CC&Rs, and can have % rental caps on units which may make MTRs difficult. 

Figure out what you save on cap gain taxes on $200K. 

Depending on the rehab budget, you would be looking at up to 90% of the purchase price, 100% of the rehab, capped at 75% ARV. 

There are some serious housing perks with my new job offer: 1) $150K in a 0% interest forgivable loan for downpayment (10% forgiven each year 2) a special home loan program that is currently lending at an interest rate of 4.1%. 3) Can join a waitlist for on-campus faculty housing that is sold for at 50-75% of the fair market value consequently when you sell you are capped at how much you can sell for; waitlist for these homes is approximately 7-10 years and you can stay there until you die).

In particular, OO does not have vacancy or PM and typically has cheaper maintenance/cap ex than the landlord would experience.https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/its-now-officially-cheap...if you use realistic expenses, purchase at retail (off MLS) without a value add, you will have negative cash flow on virtually any purchase.  

I can run the numbers for NOI-depreciation and this holds true, but not all of the operating expenses are deductible (or at least maintenance, vacancy and cap ex aren’t until that money is spent).

Average cap rates across the country have halved in the past 25 years.

Additionally, maintenance/cap ex expenses are high due to age.