Also - on condos or townhomes, an increase in the monthly HOA fees or a special assessment might wipe out your return.I caution you against counting on appreciation.  

Worse yet, if you had to evict someone, it can wipe out many months of cash reserves.

That means the Life Tenant of the property has no power to convey away his interest which would wipe out yours.

I would think in most states the foreclosure would wipe all of the other liens out and require the bank to pay taxes, but I'm not sure.

We know nothing, we haven't even bought a home of our own yet so we are definitely babies to the Real Estate World.

It might only take one of those things to potentially wipe out your CoC Return, periodically.If you're concerned about the neighborhood, I'm guessing your property Insurance will likely be double, and your ongoing repairs and maintenance will be significantly higher than 2% of rent, too.People can make money with these parameters - but the local market values are low for a reason.Others may have comments about that specific area.

About me.I am thirty one years old and I am having my first baby this April.

Aside from that the media side of things has been by baby and the area I work in day in and day out.

My dream is to create a real estate company serving the housing needs of middle income population, but like everything in life, it is best to start with baby steps.I like the NYC metropolitan area because of its diversity, potential for growth and the fact that it behaves somewhat independently of the national economic trends.  

A living trust is in the immediate future, just hard to find the time with a baby and 70 hour work weeks.