If you accidentally take out too much, no rule says you can't pay a mortgage balance down during a refinance. 

It sounds like it use to be a little clunky back in the day, but has improved - but couldn't find any recent discussions on BP about Rent Monitor specifically.  

It appears the units are below market, however with some cosmetic repairs and perhaps some capex's I feel I could increase the rent by at minimum (based on local comps) 68%.I would offer 85% of list and estimated $20,000 in repairs/upgrades (this is probably a generous estimate - the property appears to be in good shape, basically needs a face lift).With all these figures, including the 50% rule, financing with 20% down @ 3.5%, I come out to a profit of $262 per unit and a cash-on-cash return of 9.53%.So, does this seems reasonable?

We also knowingly gave up a critical backup exit strategy due to HOA rules, and then needed them when we were having a hard time selling.

if I go by your numbers 54k purchase price amd 24k for rehab  that's 78k you're going to rent 2 units for 750 so that's $1500 a month.you should calculate the expenses taxes ,insurance,maintenance etc and see if the cash flow will make sense.. you can use the 2% rule which in this case looks like you're right on the money. . so if 54k and 24k are right numbers and this is not a complete war zone were you would get your $1500 every month with no problems than this should be a good deal..check again for the rehab costs with a local contractos ask to have written estimates. also see if you need to pull permits.. these takes time and money. .good luck!!

He estimates to spend an additional $58k over the next 10 years for maintenance and capital improvements. 

I went to a really good one but I think that is the exception not the rule. 

@Jeremy Geyer Many Investors that flip homes use the 70% Rule that says 0.7 x ARV - Repairs = Your Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO).

Hello – I was just reading the article on Facebook about why beginning your investing process with a duplex works out great, what I'm trying to find out is if I can use those same rules when buying a Single family house.

Options  are under different accounting and tax rules if greater than one year, they are seen or default to an installment sale.