Taxes, costs, eviction complexity, etc are going to be a much bigger factor in your success than anything else.

in 3 years you can pay off any mortgage 500,000 or less for $1,500 bucks.. or in 5 years a $477,000 mortgage for $100..I am implementing something new for the real estate industry, primarily to mortgage holders & the rent to own industry, as a shorter-term approach to be mortgage free, without cost being an obstacle ..

Quote from @Hanna Brown: @Jay Hinrichs If the bidder at the auction pays cash for keys to get the homeowner out, does the person redeeming from the owner position (exercising rights of redemption w/in 180 days) have to reimburse them for those costs they paid to get the homeowner out? 

Funny enough, I was going to suggest you move out of SF due to the high cost ;-) I'd suggest going down the SF condo route to start as financing for commercial units is a lot more difficult than residential properties.

I can promise you that my first deal was TERRIBLE, but I lived at a reduced monthly cost to living than renting/buying a single family and that is what mattered. 

Was cash invested including rehab costs?

I believe this is what they call a pier and beam foundation which I have no experience with so I have no idea what it would cost to fix. 

I prefer markets that experience mild winters to eliminate the added costs brutal winters can bring. 

It is not low cost.. you need 7-8 rooms per house to make it decently profitable. 

The tenants were more interested in that than turning on the already-installed alarm system because there was no monthly cost.