We averaged $1700/month in revenue over the first 6 months, 85% occupancy, and clean the unit ourselves.In October, we closed on a SFH in MI.

Hello Patrick, there are a few things that need to be considered to turn this into active income such as length of average stay, hours you spend managing property and services you provide.

Financing costs are much more expensive than they were a few years ago, and you just never know when a property is going to be a maintenance headache or you happen to switch to a market where rents happen to fall over the next 12-18 months. 

Currently, I bike and take the bus to work to save on expenses from owning a car, I meal-prep once a week and eat out only occasionally to save on food costs, and I strategize my regular spending to receive the maximum cashback.Looking forward to interacting with this community and learning more about making smart investment choice.

You can generally deduct your business expenses not paid by the borrower.If you’re running a lending business, no matter how small, like any other business, you can deduct all reasonable and customary expenses.

After completing the remodel, I plan to switch to a different insurance policy and be refunded the unused portion of the escrow, making this approach a win-win for improving my home and saving money on insurance.Additionally, by paying 5% down and planning to reach 22% equity in the property to eliminate PMI, I'm taking proactive steps to reduce my monthly expenses and make homeownership more affordable and sustainable in the long term.ConclusionI'm curious to hear from the BiggerPockets community: have you found that renovations can help reduce insurance costs?

Simply relying on an average CPA or general advice from forums may not be as effective in helping you identify and take advantage of all the potential tax benefits available to you. 

Be sure to get information about the age of the capital expense items (roof, HVAC, water heaters, and sewer line as well).

In an expensive market like CA cash flow at 4% could be great if the other metrics were solid.

Their neighborhood selection process is key in affording investors a home in an area that instantly produces positive cash flow and high probability to earn above average market appreciation over the long term.