Why would I be cash flow negative and losing money for years and years?"

@Joshua Lanzieri when renovating older properties there are almost always negative surprises.Go watch any HGTV renovation show and most of them will have this as a cliff-hanger, forcing the choice of either going over budget or cutting back elsewhere.10% overruns happen often, but 50% is NOT acceptable!

What some people on BP don't seem to understand is to stop making the assumption that everyone is not working their best at thisif you have to provide negative comments or any sort of negativity when providing advice, then advice or recommendations shouldn't be your fortéAs i mentioned before.

With 5% down payments and all the expenses deducted, there seem to have close negative/only around $100 cash flow each month.

Mostly people with minimal RE experience are adding a single ADU and they often make that choice based on cash flow without taking into account the negative equity position.  

It is increasingly more difficult to pay of even one mortgage when you are cashflow negative, let alone multiple.

., signing up for an eBook in exchange for an email address) and was wondering if anyone has suggestions on lead magnets that have been particularly effective in converting interested parties into prospects.I’d greatly appreciate any advice or guidance you can share.

I do not care what the source of the return is  Historically the highest return is via a value add and appreciation and is more so recently due to the recent rate increase versus earlier this century (before 2022).However, most new RE investors cannot handle extended periods of large negative cash flow.  

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

If you have the time to devote to it, direct to seller methods can be very effective, but will take ultra-patience and intensive work.