but all in all there is little to no appreciation in that area so not really sure why anyone would buy in a market where what ever cash flow you make goes back into cap ex over time like it did for me.

It would mean the costs are financed with the property and it raises your basis cost against future cap gains.  

Thats why I was considering markets which might have lower barrier to entry probably capped at about 300k 

They are capped during ownership but uncap upon sale. 

If you want to be conservative, stay around 50%-60% LTV, especially if your cost of debt is lower than your cap rate, as this will lever your ROE.

Cap rate was still decent when I sold it, even at its updated value, versus alternatives.

I will also set aside cap ex, vacancy, maintenance from the cash flow every month.7.

@Jeff Fortuna@Dan Rowley I am getting 8.5 percent cash flow that is about 60 percent tax free from the mag syndication with a cap gain coming when they start selling properties.  

But they won't be 1 percent in a year or two years because C- to D+ properties have trouble tenants (sometimes) and high cap ex.

They also cap on rent rates based on the number of bedrooms for the tenants voucher so some of my rentals (depending on the location) will bring more rent than what Section 8 will pay .