If I rely on this cash flow to sustain myself and my family, I can't have professional tenants affect my ability to provide.

Probably my favorite sustainable strategy, my favorite starter property I mentioned above is to house hack.

CapEx costs need to be escrowed if you want a self-sustaining business.  

The cool thing is the the non winning tickets (which lets face it you wont have many with those odds) can sustain your nutritional needs.

If you want to get into flipping, finding deals based on needing to live in it isnt a sustainable model.5.

As they say, follow the jobs.You can go to the bureau of labor and statistics and look at job growth by city and then narrow down the region and cities that you want.Another thing to think about is are the jobs being created sustainable jobs?

The process of going through zoning and city approval is enough in itself to drive you mad, I feel like their goal is anti-developer so it'll be an uphill battle, especially for a city that is very urban and sustainability conscious like Seattle.I'm not familiar with the Seattle market but there's a development/design build firm out there I really like: dwell development.  

The houses condition and the longterm sustainability of it?..

It was his rich dad who asked him how many years of negative cashflow he can sustain. 

If the properties you have are "productive" in that they are rented and can sustain themselves, I would think you wouldn't have difficulty doing a refinance.