Chicago is a lower appreciation market but with the trends we've been seeing with increased rates of hurricanes on the east coast and fires in the west, I do think long-term we will see some migration to the Midwest.

With me not being on the duplex as a co signer it is rasisijg the interest rate 2% higher than what the average rate is or has been going for.

Charge the tenants a higher rent rate and include utilities with their rent.

@JD Martin agree 10,000%What I am surprised about is I had a call with someone in Austin today and in sw Florida and they both said things are awful and prices are dropping at high rates - curious don't hear as much chatter here about that as it could be an opportunity 

Their fees and interest rates were high, but they had the least restrictive approval terms from what I gathered.

I've tracked my metrics over the years and I'm getting 99% hit rates with fewer than 1% wrong number percentages.

How do you go about determining market rate?

We are planning to hold it for 5 years and bought a rate cap to cover the entire hold period. 

Also being open to section 8 could help with keeping vacancy rate low.

The metrics I'm primarily focused on are: rent appreciation rate, property appreciation rate, economic growth rate, unemployment rate on the macro level.