I have a confession: my only duplex, which I gave owned now for 2 years and recently moved out of from a house hack, has proven to cost me more to maintain/pay taxes/repair/fix etc to the point where my cash flow is close to zero.

We are in a very low tax bracket this year but should be 10% higher in 2025.

To transition to multi-family properties, research landlord-friendly states like Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Indiana with favorable eviction laws, lower taxes, and higher rental demand.

This creates two loan payments ($100,000 of equity and $300,000 on the new mortgage).Key NumbersHome Equity Loan Interest Rate: 6%Mortgage Interest Rate: 7%Rental Income: $3,000 per monthExpenses (management, taxes, insurance, maintenance): $800 per monthIncome and ExpensesMonthly Rental Income: $3,000Monthly Expenses: $800Monthly Mortgage Payment: $2,000ExplanationThe investor earns $3,000 in rent each month.They pay $2,000 on the investment property mortgage and $800 on other expenses.This leaves $200 profit each month or $2,400 per year.However, you have to pay $6,000 interest on the equity borrowed.This leaves you with an annual loss of $3,600.While the rental property generates positive monthly income, the interest cost of borrowing the initial $100,000 results in an overall loss.

Deduct NEW property taxes after you buyDeduct home insurance costsDeduct maintenance percentage, typically 10%Deduct vacancy+tenant nonperformance percentage(we recommend 5% for Class A, 10% Class B, 20% Class C, good luck with Class D)Deduct whatever dollar/percentage of cashflow you wantNow, what you have left over is the amount for debt service.Enter it into a mortgage calculator, with current interest rate for an investment property, to determine your maximum mortgage amount.Divide the mortgage amount by either 75% or 80%, depending on the required down payment percentage - this is your tentative price to offer.If the property needs repairs, you'll want to deduct 110%-120% of the estimated repairs from this amount.Be sure to also research the ARV and make sure it's 10-20% higher than your tentative purchase price.As long as the ARV checks out, this is the purchase price to offer.It is probably significantly below the asking price.

Who covers the tax bill when they don't pay the tax bill or the insurance? 

The 1031 exchange rule to defer your tax is two part 1) reinvest all your proceeds and 2) purchase a property (or properties / DSTs/TICs) with an equal or greater market value.  

One caution when using crypto to acquire property is being aware the tax ramifications are identical to if you converted to cash first.

You'll likely want to evaluate the investment with UDFI tax figured in.The Solo 401k trust would make the payments to the seller/lender and would also pay for any investment-related expenses.

Keep in mind that you get to depreciate these appliances on your taxes.