Pittsburgh REIA is a great place to meet people and is free for the first time (after that it is pretty cheap as well even if you pay per meeting).

Here are the details:Duplex purchased in August, 2015 for $155,000ishLived in one side of the duplex until September 2016Both sides rented for $1,200/mo ($600/each) when I first bought itBoth sides now rent for $1,800/mo ($1,000 for renovated side/$800 for other)Cash flows well for me (about $8,000/yr) and I have a very reliable, cheap property manager (good buddy of mine); total expenses are around $1,125/moHaven’t added up all the numbers, but estimated renovation costs were about $25,000Reasons I am considering selling:Live in Dallas - don't want to deal with property out of townInterest Rates rising (slightly afraid of a market dip): my property manager will be leaving College Station in 2 years (once he graduates) and I might have trouble selling the place at that time if market is in bad shape; don't want to pay 12% for a conventional manager to handle it, but I could do that if need beConsidering buying and building in Dallas 'M streets' area (for primary residence, not investment) - which will be quite expensive; we have savings, but if we had to pay cash for a distressed home or lot in the area, then that would be tough without this capitalLooking to sell for about $230,000, which would be about a $50,000 profit:  don’t want to pay taxes on the gains, but I am unsure of how to manage the situationCan’t live in it for another year (to get to 2 of 5 years primary residence)1031 exchange to personal residence seems tricky – I assume I would have to exchange for another investment property, establish it as such, and then convert it to my personal residence sometime down the road; also the timing on these things seems absurd (45 days/180 days) unless you have something totally lined up, which I guess is the pointAm I up the creek and I should just sell it and pay the taxes?

Is this cheap?

It ain't cheap, but worth its weight in gold when passing on a deal is not an option! 

Im not sure about other mortgage servicers however, most that I've read on their guidelines to remove PMI including from the mortgage company I work at currently are below (Fannie & Freddie conventional):- when you reach 80% of the ORIGINAL purchase value you can request to remove PMI however a  BPO (brokers price opinion aka cheap & dirty version of a regular appraisal)  will be needed to verify the property did not decrease in value- If you've done improvements (sounds like your story) you can request a BPO to verify your loan is at 80% of current market value (ARV) which can go from regular BPO price of 150-175 dollars up to regular appraisal if interiors need inspection as well (interior & exteriors = regular appraisal 450-550).- if the loan is atleast 2 years old (paid on time of course) and not more than 5 years old the borrower can request a BPO if the borrower believes the value has increased enough based on market value alone to remove MI but the requirement for this market value only increase is 75% LTV or lower based on the current BPO (so in essence you need 25% equity on current FMV - fair market value).- for the above 3 scenarios payments must be current with no 30 day lates in the past 12 months or 60 day lates in the past 24 months (on the current mortgage or "other," credit too)What is interesting is the above only applies to 1 unit properties because 2-4 unit properties its the same as the above except the requirement is 35% equity or 65% LTV (same).

I've always used stainless sinks because they're simple/nice looking/cheap.

Cheap buy and holds- You might think they are cheap what can go wrong?

And with every passing day, my dream of doing this on the CHEAP is growing weaker and weaker.

It is cheap and should a title issue come up you will not be out your entire purchase price.  

Paint and paper, fine.What I have been finding is that the real estate market here is heated to the point where this is easier said than done.Are other Atlanta investors finding the market too hot to handle, or am I jus too cheap?