The networking and local market insights are invaluable.For retirement planning, focus on building steady cash flow and consider setting aside a healthy maintenance fund (I usually recommend 6 months of expenses) to protect against any surprises.If you're looking to expand your portfolio, Columbus is a great market where we still see positive cash flowing deals with lots of appreciation potential.

Why pay rent when your landlord gives you free housing, free maintenance team, free mortgage, free electricity, free water, free trash?

@Venecia BaezRecommend 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 Class A property in Class D area, what quality of tenant will you get?

We pay for furnace maintenance but not fridge filters.

Due diligence is key before you sign on the dotted lineBuild a network of a great property manager, lender and maintenance teamDepending on your budget, I usually would start with at least a duplex, triplex or quad.

Deduct NEW property taxes after you buyDeduct home insurance costsDeduct maintenance percentage, typically 10%Deduct vacancy+tenant nonperformance percentage(we recommend 5% for Class A, 10% Class B, 20% Class C, good luck with Class D)Deduct whatever dollar/percentage of cashflow you wantNow, what you have left over is the amount for debt service.Enter it into a mortgage calculator, with current interest rate for an investment property, to determine your maximum mortgage amount.Divide the mortgage amount by either 75% or 80%, depending on the required down payment percentage - this is your tentative price to offer.If the property needs repairs, you'll want to deduct 110%-120% of the estimated repairs from this amount.Be sure to also research the ARV and make sure it's 10-20% higher than your tentative purchase price.As long as the ARV checks out, this is the purchase price to offer.It is probably significantly below the asking price.

Common fees will include a set-up fee, a leasing fee for each turnover or a lease renewal fee, marking up maintenance, retaining late fees, and more.

The rooms are unfurnished and the tenants are very low-maintenance (hardly know they are there). 2+Unit Buildings here and nearby currently sell for $1.5M on average.I bought the property 16 years ago, so my mortgage rate is very low (2.2%) Even though the property is cashflow positive, my bigger play is the average 5% yearly appreciation.I'm looking for others who are interested in house-hacking in this neighborhood. 

Investors normally get there payments on time, most of the tenants stay for long periods of time because if they move it is a hassle for them, and since section 8 requires that the property stay in certain condition it will help keep the maintenance costs down. 

i.e. longer than normal vacancy, bad tenant screening, poor maintenance, skipped rent payments, etc.There could be a handful of reasons why it lost it's ability to cash flow.