Most of the good cash-flowing properties that we are seeing For 15-30k down that will cash flow on average $150-350 /mo after "The Big 6" (mortgage, taxes, insurance, vacancy, management, maintenance) have been paid.

That could have insurance and other liability implications as well. 

I’ve got the age old question of whether we should sell our townhome or keep it and make it our first rental.This is my first post on BiggerPockets so please let me know if I have left out any information that may be helpful in the analysis.Single Family TownhomeBuilt: 2001Purchase Date: 2008Purchase Price: $270,000Property Tax: $5700/yearHOA: $125/monthWater/Sewer: $1320/year (Must be paid to county by home owner)Insurance: $800/yearMaintenance Costs: $400/year Other planned future costs: Roof (in about 5 years, ~$5000), water heater (in 7 years, ~$1300 including labor), water softener (in 5 years, $500)Current Mortgage (Refinanced in 2012)Term: 15Rate: 3.375%Principal: $140,000Market Value: $230,000 (Upstate NY market with minimal appreciation expected)Rental: $2000/month ($2200 possible but I want to be conservative)I was also considering refinancing to a 30 year mortgage to help with cash flow but I’m not sure if it is worth the $4000-5000 in closing costs to refinance.Normally I would not consider this a good rental property because of the low/negative cash flow.

I sold insurance door-to-door in lowell 2008-2010 and did extremely well.

If you are going to invest out of state for your first deal, you might as well invest in sure stock tips.  

We can also understand a div stock will not need a roof or have any ongoing turnover costs, vacancies, evictions, vandalism, code violations, insurance claims, sewer lines, landscaping blah, blah blah.Fortunately we can compare 5 years div stocks to 5 years random sfr returns and your friends blog conclusions are not debatable.

I strongly suspect that in many scenarios, you will end up out of pocket MORE than $300 a month once you add in taxes, insurance, maintenance, and utilities. 

Also my insurance agent says it's harder for him to get insurance from good companies on old older homes, unless the electrical, roof, and plumbing and have been updated. 

I also have sewer & water line insurance provided by DEP via American Water Resources (AWR) but every time I call them, they say there has to be a clog and all they will take care of will be fixing the clog.

I could see lots of folks with limited equity and no flood insurance on their house walking away from the mortgage before spending the tens of thousands of dollars to fix flood damage.