Google is a cash eating machine so you could easily put your $1,000 per month to work and not see an ounce of results if you did not carefully setup your campaign.  

In my experiences with speculation like this and trying to make a deal like this come together without the interest eating you alive while you wait for the end game, which may or may not appear...is basically a hit or a miss, and a miss could take you under.     

With $145,000 in equity, opportunity value of 10% minimum, your equity is eating $1200/month off of your rental income before even calculating any other expenses.

There is the old saying "how do you eat an elephant" ... bite by bite.

Yes, it eats into your profits but a good manager will be doing a lot of work for you. 

Sounds like you should request that your broker eats the cost on this one, ask the buyers agent to reduce to 1.5%, and remove the paying for repairs or closing costs.

I started coming a few years ago when I made a conscious effort to became really active in real estate and ended up volunteering at the club, then sticking around to help run it. 

I'd eat pb&j and ride a bike every day before I went back to trying to keep up with my broke friends.

We can't have our cake and eat it to.Those looking for a hassle free option should expect to pay for the service they are receiving.  

The taxes are going to eat up a lot of your income.