Add on to that most fo the homes are older sitting on a big patch of Yazoo clay so foundations move all the time.. just a tough area.. spend a little more if you like Jackson and get up north of Lakeland and East of the 55  125k price points thats sustainable..

(It's definitely sustainable since I enjoy it.)I don't really want to do the LLC in CA. 

It seems the building could be made into a self-sustaining rental property but not while two trustees are using it as free or nearly-free housing.

You'll find some mis-managed buildings that have a hard time sustaining low vacancy rates, and if you're willing and able to put in the time and effort to turn these around, you may find yourself on the positive side of things.Rates for multi-family commercial have been pretty low as of late, so you'll have some pretty decent options to look at when you're ready.

. :-)I am in the process of setting up a 501 (c) 3 (paperwork has been filed...just waiting for IRS to do its thing) that will operate sober living homes for those in recovery who need safe and affordable housing.In thinking of how to setup the homes, I am thinking of two separate strategies: either raising enough funds through grants to purchase properties, or leasing existing rental properties.If I can't buy properties, one of the issues with possibly leasing properties is if I decide to lease/rent existing properties, they would need to cash flow for us to sustain the nonprofit and its mission, so there would likely need to be significant rent concessions made from landlord (for example, a 50% concession, ie rents normally for $2500, rented to nonprofit for $1250, so we could then rent each room for $500 a month and possibly cash flow).I'm hopeful that I could find landlords who would be open to an arrangement where:1) A 3% to 5% non-refundable downpayment is made to landlord in exchange for 5 year guaranteed lease/rental agreement2) Nonprofit agrees to pay 50% of all needed repairs (due to occupancy) to property during that time3) In exchange, landlord gets stable occupancy, gets a tax deduction for the amount of rental concession made (would likely be tens of thousands of dollars) and is not on the hook fully for repairs and maintenanceFully open to hearing opinions or suggestions...am I thinking of this in a way that is possible?

(ie credit check the remaining tenant to see if he can sustain the cost of rent alone).

That's what Cali is - a two tiered society with a small and shrinking affluent upper middle-class having to shoulder the burden of a high-tax welfare state, and a massive and growing underclass.So they kept a few designers but moved all the back-office work, the kinds of jobs that can sustain middle-class families to Dallas.

So it looks like a long road that sits on the back of a sustained boom.

For starters, take the top 3 most time consuming items and find out the best processes you can put in place to deal with those.As you put better (and sustainable) process into place, do this again and again until you burn through the heavy stuff.On the other end of the analysis, I recommend weeding out low ROI activities.

I see real estate as an opportunity to supplement my income and be more self sustainable.