While my insurance charges are relatively low each year given this is a condo, I learned to better assess who is behind budget planning at the HOA level for all of the units for roof, cleaning costs, basement improvements (shared by all units), given this was run well by one individual.

There will definitely need to be a reno budget to, at the least add bedrooms, and I am looking to stay under 400k.

Budgeting: Many landlords use the 50 percent rule, which means that 50 percent of your rental income should go to covering fixed and variable expenses, other than the mortgage.4.

Now, I know someone could say the cost should be "negligible" couple of hundred dollars a month, in comparison to the whole buildout budget, but still I do want to know what are the best practices out there.

Generally people might budget 15% of incoming rent for these items.

There are budget-friendly self-management sites that make setting up applications and collecting rent simple and again, you can pocket that 12%.

They have a portfolio of options that sell first to locals for as little as $1,000 if you have the rehab budget and local contractors.

A few examples:PMI if you put down less than 20%HOA fees or budgeting for your own maintenance costsZillow Estimates: I found Zillow can underestimate costs, so I add a bit more to their numbers to get a realistic idea.Hope the process is going smoothly for you!

Purchase price of about $1.5M with $300k in CAPEX budget to repair and renovate the units. 

With a $350-400K budget and your $30-40K down payment, there are markets where this could work, but it might require a bit of flexibility in location.