But, the self-sufficiency test for FHA loans can be really difficult in SF, meaning that the market rent from units you will not occupy must be sufficient to pay for the mortgage payment. 

We also have many unique buyer incentives where an investor can get up to a 10% price reduction to come into immediate equity, or get that 10% as a cash back at closing to reduce your down payment and increase your ROI, or buy rates down into the low 4s on 30yr loans to maximize cash flow.

@Ben SyzekFor long term rentals in Colorado Springs you will need to find a deal at 50% ARV (This is very hard) or do a large down payment of 25-35%.

This is the equivalent of a car salesman pitching the "monthly payment" of a car instead of the actual price of the car.

Most hard money lenders require 10-20% down payment of the purchase price or total project cost.Holding Costs During Rehab: Yes, you'll need to cover carrying costs, including hard money interest, utilities, taxes, and insurance.

I definitely plan on building a team in the market we select. 

If cash flow means you make $8 more than your mortgage payment in month 4, awesome, you have $8 for that month.But.... if you factor in closing costs, make ready costs, leasing costs, repairs... it's typically years out until TRUE cash flow, with a value add or a turnkey (unless you absolutely knock it out of the park with a BRRRR and then somehow cash flow after the refi, which I guess is possible but very unlikely.)

-Rent collection and financial management is probably not at the top of the list based on some of the challenges that we hear about, mainly because if you are lucky enough to have solid tenants and low vacancy, this is easy peasy, but if you have some challenging tenants that default on payments, or the possibility of an eviction arises, it can be worth paying a management company to help guide next steps. 

There are down payment programs for duplexes, i have not searched or tried to do a 3-4 unit property. 

Let your criteria do the filtering for you.Regarding retention and renewals, the only time I have asked people to leave is when they have had rent payment issues and/or damaged the property.