Those are some factors that will determine your returns.

Factor in carrying costs (utilities, taxes, insurance).2.

Determine the most likely sales price of the build (factor in the cost of the land also) and include all selling costs to arrive at your net profit and ROI. 

An LLC is potentially one minor factor that might contribute to the evidence that you are running your rental activity as a trade or business, but it's definitely not required that you have an LLC to qualify.

Don't get me wrong:  cash flow is still an important factor, it keeps the lights on, it pays for repairs and upgrades.

My wife and I did come the the same conclusion on most of those same factors when we were looking in the north by Venice and Aviano. 

Does size of mortgage paydown become a factor here?

I guess it's just too many factors to consider and it easy to get overwhelmed and cannot get accurate info and estimation when I conduct analysis (ex. property tax rate, insurance, maintenance fee, rent, repair, closing cost, etc.) 

If your goal is passive income, it's not going to be in New Jersey when you factor in cost to purchase, management costs, and rent to price ratio, but what you can get is steady appreciation.

Awesome job by Neal and his team in managing the properties and consistent communication with their investors.As a Limited Partner investing in a syndication, for me, trust is a big factor.