A successful investor's time may be worth hundreds of dollars per hour.

You could do that for 3-5% down.. live in it for a year to meet typical requirements for use… then move into a new house, and ‘voila’ - you bought your second (multi-family) rental for 3-5% down instead of 20-25%.It is entirely possible though that you will face debt to income issues on your first rental if your lender wants to see a year or twos worth of rental history before counting your rental income to offset your debt payments…so beware of that.Otherwise you may have to look at creative financing… maybe bringing in a money person where it was a short term investment for them, like “I’ll give you 8% on your money (versus the 4-5,% you could earn from the bank CD) if you will partner with me on this purchase.”

It gives you some insights into what is actually happening day in and day out, and you can then justify if spending that money is worth it. 

Hi Bob, I'm not looking for immediate cash.

For a duplex that you're renovating and potentially BRRRR'ing I would look to target to get 80%+ of my cash back on the refinance and then cash flow a bit less - maybe $100-$150 per door.  

Are you looking to make cash now or reap the long term benefits of real estate investing?

Hey Miciah,Given your situation, it might be worth starting with local investments in Phoenix even though prices are higher.

The rents might be slightly below market, but to have the state paying the rent would be worth it and a zero vacancy rate for 5 years will compensate. 

Those not in that 10% are not worth what you.would pay them.

S-Corps not so much, but still you should question whether the cost is worth it.