look for the signs that say "we buy houses "  .

I want to know if there is a point where the cost start to outweigh the benefits and if I should just look away from this study all together when it comes to the houses I would be buying. 

Personally I have spent tens of thousands buying liens in Colorado over the last 3 years and have calculated the premium bidding as a cost that I would recover from actually getting a few deeds.

It seems like you are looking for buy and holds, but do you want to do those locally or are you open to doing long distance rentals?

I tend to lever properties up to buy more, but since rates have outpaced rents, it's been more difficult to do so successfully. 

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

The answers are invariably yes for new investors, and usually for seasoned investors too—the reason being that you need to know what you are getting into.There is a second equally important reason, though, especially when buying from homeowners or investors: You can usually get a credit or additional work done based on the results of the inspection report.

If you had $100,000 to spend on properties, you could buy 1 property for $100,000, or you could borrow and put 25% down on 4 - $100,000 properties.  

I also used a HELOC on my current house hack to buy.

In Cleveland, OH you can buy properties that go way over the 1% rule and generate cash flow day 1.