Anyone who tells you the contrary is feeding you a fantasy.   

They feel that for the rest of their landlording career each tenant will clean the house for the next tenant, but that philosophy is only a fantasy.

But I agree, expecting the Bank to agree to a lowball offer before foreclosure is a bit of a fantasy...

YOU have to maintain and keep the property in good repair - Section 8 will do an annual inspection to make sure that you are doing so, and they won't be making the repairs.Sorry for the reality check, but you have to check the fantasy-land projections at the door before entering the BP forums ...

Enjoy your "fantasy world", but you won't be getting offers submitted.

Don't buy a property just because the "investing fantasy game" shows the numbers make crazy sense.

Lets say somehow you end up with an actual cash flow of $200/month per unit (look at all cash flow projections with a critical eye as in general they are fantasy - many do not even include Cap ex estimates). 

In the OP's fantasy figures, property 1 purchased for 200k generated 700k and is worth 800k at the end, property 2 purchased for 200k generated 200k and is worth 1.7 million at the end.

Or, is $850 a fantasy?

Why this idea to become a real estate investor when I was still in high school with a 20 hour a week part-time job, and a steady girlfriend that wanted me interested in her and not some fantasy.