E.th. you mention in the post is correct. 

To choose the correct path for any particular business a number of questions need be answered first1.

By prioritizing fundamentals over chasing ROI benchmarks, he’s now sitting on an asset that’s appreciated 30% and maintained strong cash flow.Personally, I once miscalculated reserves on a triplex I bought early in my career.

Do it right, hire the right people, and make sure you have all of your permits correctly pulled.

I've been looking at NC and GA recently, trying to find some entry level and easy to maintain property, but there are too many areas and it's really hard to narrow down.

If you think like those gurus or think like those gurus, then you can kick rocks pretty much.Also put aside some money for appraisals, because if you don't do anything correct with a multitude of professionals, you can get sued.Plus these gurus who promise to jv on deals will screw you over.These gurus are pathological liars that need someone to publicly expose them face to face! 

We had to make sure we sidestepped them and only added information to the correctly entered, active applications.

What do you do to ensure that the tenant is responsible for security deposit disputes since that is the largest reason for owner lawsuitsHow familiar are you with the newly changed laws that can affect you the owner if they are not used correctly?.

First, most investors and owners of real estate related businesses are in one or more of the following situations1- they’re unable to duplicate their expertise that drives the ROI and they are at their personal max capacity as to time2- they’re obtaining high ROI by use of excessive leverage 3 - they’re obtaining high ROI by taking excessive risk4- they hit correct timing in the correct market, and this is not necessarily repeatable with any probabilityIn order for an investment or business to scale, we need the ROI (on a risk adjusted basis) to be sufficient to cover a PREMIUM risk adjusted return to passive investors; all expenses of managing the assets and the business, and a significant return to the “sponsor” providing compensation to him making the work, risk and time worth while. 

Correct, the idea would be to owner-occupy one of the units (I’m looking at 2-4 unit options).