You can probably pay for a course when one of the sucker roadshows comes thru town, but it is a ton of money. 

It is always better to have the tenant paying for the utilities as they are the ones using them. 

I use all the rental cash flow to pay these loans off asap, then repeat.

I would stay away from section 8, pull credit and background, and call referrals, and look at pay stubs for everyone who applies.

Unless the borrower is self employed and takes a lot of expenses to show lower income on their returns then it usually makes sense to pay a couple thousand a year in higher interest (you can pay like 4,000 a year in additional interest for DSCR if you are saving 30+k on your tax bill kind of math lol)

Buyers don't look for financing and its foreign so they don't jump on a forsale listing on zillow.I've had the best (only) luck with zillow rental adds,   starting with the pitch;  rent to own, live in a great home while you pay off owning it. 

Then she still only makes 2% extra for taking the risk of you not paying versus a bank.

I like the fact that one and a half units pays all bills.

I don't really want to go looking for the financing to pay him his balloon payment.

in 3 years you can pay off any mortgage 500,000 or less for $1,500 bucks.. or in 5 years a $477,000 mortgage for $100..I am implementing something new for the real estate industry, primarily to mortgage holders & the rent to own industry, as a shorter-term approach to be mortgage free, without cost being an obstacle ..