You could upgrade 50 more and increase your income by $2500/month."

I use Ally (not paid to say this) and lately with the way rates have been moving, they've increased the rate for me at least once a month since January (1.65%).

I believe self-directed accounts do not permit you to hold real estate that you live in or rent out to relatives, so I would only consider that route if I wanted to increase my passive real estate holdings.

The property is a 5 unit building with the following information: Rental income is $4,000 per month or $48,000 per year totalTaxes are $375 per month or $4,500 per year (this is higher than current but factoring in that they will increase)Estimated insurance is $200 per month or $2,400 per yearExpenses: Vacancy 8%Management 10%Other expenses Landlord pays water at $400 per month or $4,800 per year Realize this could be a cost savings in the future, but want to analyze as isGeneral maintenance (including minor repairs on property) including grass and pest control estimate at $300 per month or $3,600 per yearCapital reserves for Cap ex (appliances, windows (52 windows on building), roof, siding, etc. which I based on building a capitalization table based on useful life of items and number of units) at $460 per month or $5,520 per yearLoan: All in after down payment the loan would be for $300,000Assuming 7% interest rateAmortized over 20 yearsThus comes out to $2,325 per month or $27,900 per yearSummary Income Per Year:$48,000Property Exp.

If I increase the rent by $200 it would increase to about $5,200 a month.

Trulia crime maps  ( used to be convenient but they changed their coloring)2. clrsearch.com - demographics - the have a crime index ( I like this better )3.

Things can fall apart for a variety of reasons and you don't want to confuse the tenants if that were to happen.I like the idea of giving the tenants a month or two to digest the bad news of a rent increase, however this often gives the M2M tenants a reason to go find a new place.

Sure, my monthly cash flow will appear to increase by $220/mo, which could increase my purchasing power (a strong positive), but I'm not sure if it's a wise investment. 

The VA loan limit for 2018 was increased to $453,100 for most parts of the country.

How much did your homeowners insurance increase when you added short term rental to your policy?