Many house hackers use this “ladder” approach, building equity and income with each property.A friend of mine started house hacking with a triplex in Phoenix around a decade ago.

Mine are in bad areas, but I’m still getting $800/month per room on average.

Mine all run themselves with minimal issues. 

He was slow on selling it, believing that all the money was mine instead of trying to close the deal quickly so I could do it again. so I ended up spending my profits on the monthly mortgage payments.

I remeber a friend of mine in Austin who went through a similar journey.

They’re arguing that the deposits belong to the tenants, but I’ve always understood that the deposits are mine until the tenants move out and the unit is inspected.Any advice would be much appreciated.

Back then water was so cheap that developers of multifamily buildings just included in the rents.Today is a different time and place so water is called "liquid gold".

I am a recent college grad and I'm looking to get started in real estate investing with a friend of mine who is also a recent grad.

I been a property owner for many years if this one was one of mine it would have never gone this far.

A perfect example of this is Detroit, where a friend of mine purchased 100 SFR in 2011 for $300k, or $3,000 per house.