I am sure there are still many emerging market opps, however the emerging markets generally that I see on BP as stated examples are typically far from emerging and or emerged many decades ago so there is a bit of bogus info out there on this emerging market stuff.

For those investors with 2-4 family homes in the Rochester, NY area, what are typical Cap Ex and Maintenance costs you've seen over the years?

I highly recommend against doing a cash out refi, it's a much riskier and more expensive strategy (and typically you can't pull as much equity) and there's really no need for it.

Typical closing costs are $1500 to $2500 but can be much less if you're buying with cash.

I would say that you are missing calculating in some typical expenses.

I've seen typical numbers of 1%-2% higher than your current rate.If you are looking to keep this property for a long time then go with a fixed rate. 

But recently, I have been doing a lot of research on taking the wholesale route (I hear that's the typical route when first starting) and it definitely peeked my interest.

Hey @Peter Bui - typically when utilizing seller financing the buyer (i.e. new owner) is responsible for the taxes and typically will save up the funds to pay the whole tax bill each year. 

My rentals are much nicer than the average rental and they are priced slightly under market which means I typically get 50+ calls in the first 5 days whenever I list a property for rent.

Typically the listing agent, short sale processor, title, and borrower should be helping to locate this.Best regards,