My worry is that my parents have a very high standard of living and it could force me into buying a more expensive house than I want, or that I could be buying a house that's not really tailored to my long term investment goals (for example my mom really wants a pool but I don't want to buy a rental with a pool because I know future renters wont take care of it etc) My gf is a little house crazy right now too so shes obviously pushing for very expensive forevor home to live in and I don't necessarily want to buy a forevor home (at least not right now) I want a great investment opportunity. 

Your potential return on investment (Cap Rate) is roughly 4-5% which doesn't take into account your mortgage on the property. 

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

A four-bed might take slightly longer to rent since it appeals more to larger families, but with the right marketing, it shouldn’t be a major challenge—especially if the price difference is minimal and it still meets the 1% rule.The extra square footage can help with long-term tenant retention, as larger families or those working from home often seek more space.

The project will start soon, and I believe it will take that long for the construction company to complete the work on all the buildings.I have landlord insurance with State Farm, which includes coverage for loss assessments that should cover this amount.

Our industry can easily get a bad rap for taking advantage of people.Hey Matt. 

What our clients generally do is take the average gas billing for the year while occupied. give themselves a little wiggle room,  and build it into the rent as a flat rate, similar to water or electric with a single entrance. 

It takes time to identify these properties  and often requires physical observation, not merely sitting behind a computer scanning through property listings, but they are out there.

You'll want to take a spreadsheet and create a list of all properties you've purchased...particularly in the last 36 months and include the address, lender, purchase date, either rent you receive or disposition date, how much you sold it for, how much you rehabbed it, etc.

There are many other tax strategies you could be taking advantage of outside of the real estate world and a good financial planner will help you identify and maximize these benefits in the context of your overall goals.