It's also important to be aware of any deed restrictions or covenants that could impact your intended use of the property.A Personal Anecdote:I once assisted a client in Omaha who purchased a Freddie Mac home intending to convert it into a rental property.

This was done to protect senior citizens on fixed incomes from being forced to sell their homes due to unaffordable property tax increases.Since the passing of this amendment, all properties in Michigan have two property tax values associated with them:State Equalized Value (SEV): supposedly equal to 50% of the market value of a property, not based on recent sales price.Taxable Value: the SEV annually capped as long as there is not a transfer of ownership.City Assessors are charged with determining how much property values have changed each year.

I don't see how you can force the other tenant to pay half for the service call. 

Be Patient and Flexible: Market conditions and unexpected challenges can impact your plans.

DSCR will impact your debt to income ratio and it could impact it negatively.Once you get your W2 situation straight, buy a small multi family and live in it for a year.  

The credit score of the guarantor will impact the rate- more on that below. 

Next is install impact.

Given your focus on equity and scaling for future development, targeting properties where you can force appreciation through value add renovations seems like a natural fit.

Purchase price: $365,000 Cash invested: $550,000 Bought to live in, forced some equity and was able to get out almost all of my cash. 2.3% interest rate!

While it’s impossible to know when / how many homes in a certain city will be impacted by fire, flood, etc I try to stay top of mind with ALE Solutions so that I’m one of their first to call or email in the markets I operate in