I am looking at my first deal, naturally, I'm excited but I don't want that to fog up the logic in the numbers.

Are you more of a sales minded guy, or are you naturally a systems person?

It does cash flow better then a SFH, you are correct.In my case:- it had to be re-zoned as MF with the city- an additional post office address had to setup (1A, 2B)- natural gas line was split and 2nd meter was added- 2nd electrical meter was added outside- 2nd electrical circuit breaker panel was added in the basement next to the other panel, and all the wiring for upstairs unit was moved into it- city does not allow for a split up of incoming water to add 2nd meter so both units have to share it.

That forced us to find alternate lending sources… We checked with Bob Kline of Regal Funding, in Newton – his terms were 35% of the entire loan, plus 4 points, plus 12% interest – that did not work.

It sounds like you will need to reduce rent to rent it again so alternatively you could lower their rent a bit and see if they will stay.  

@Tech ChengThink about taking the 401k distribution, rolling it into a SDIRA so you can do alternative investing.

What cities (or areas within the city) have you seen hit a nice sweet spot between cashflow and natural appreciation, and why do you think it's a good opportunity?

An alternative, is you fund, then sell to the PML and service the loan.

As for the investment cycle term, thanks to their non value-add nature, you have to hold for the long term in order to recoup transactional costs and the slight decline in price once the 'new car smell' from the TK provider's renovation wears off.

Paperwork, legal matters, taxes, things of that nature.