True, but (a) they were typically experienced investors, and (b) today's market includes record prices and high mortgage rates, which is a double whammy. 

We were not able to recover any yard damages due to other damages they had left that needed repair, which empted out their security deposit.

@David F.As Russell mentioned co-ops are probably 1/2 the price of a condo and you would also have extensive costs to set up a co-op and typically it’s my understanding the builder funds the first 1-2 years of reserves.

You'll still have plenty of money to do a duplex/quadplex and give you breathing room (what would you do if you needed a large repair on the rental?).

Does Hard Money typically cost 30-40% of the purchase price?? 

Quote from @Devin James: In one of our development projects, the City staff asked us to remove 40 units from our concept plan.This wasn’t requested by the City Commission at a formal hearing, it was the opinion of the staff.Our original concept already proposed fewer units than the current zoning would have allowed.Here’s what erasing 40 units means:- 40 fewer homes for buyers- Over $1M in lost profit for our team- Fewer tax dollars and impact fees that could’ve benefited the City’s infrastructure & servicesWe gotta get betterEveryone wants more affordable housing, but not everyone wants to do what it takes to achieve it we never listen to the recommending bodies. we move for city approvals and work closely. the other thing we do is keep going back to the same groups over and over and over and over every month on the same agenda and make very small reductions like 2% or 4% and that reduces and beats them down eventually they accept what you want. it's just before beating a dead horse. we keep tabling until they give us something we all agree on then we go to vote. in our city in columbus we have to get recommendations but that's our strategy. we used to come out as aggressive as possible. we typically study developments in the area and keep it very similar in terms of density. we have a track record of very controversial projects and litigation and not taking no as an answer. after a year of that haha I can tell you it's not worth it. now we are more relationship based and buying the right kinds of plots of land. if the numbers don't work on the front end don't do the development. 

Investors typically want to stay within the original budget.The only way to do this is to stick to the plan and avoid COs!

A CPA can ensure proper filing of rental income on Schedule E and help identify tax-saving strategies, such as optimizing deductions for maintenance, repairs, and travel.

The properties that I like the best are typically in the B/B- neighborhoods.

Additionally, how many calls does it typically take you to successfully close a deal using this approach?