.), and also need to consider the cost of vacancies or bad tenants.I also recommend you charge market rate, for yourself and the tenant.

Credit is a factor as bad credit may limit options, or may have the lender require you to put 10 or 20 years of taxes and insurance into escrow. 

I tell them the story of my neighbor whose pipes burst on the 3rd floor during a bad cold snap. 

. $1500- $960 + $200 IS $340Cash in your pocket after everything roughly $1500-$1160-$340 which is not bad for a 100% financed deal(INFINITE RETURNS)Now, If you ran this analysis on a 1% deal as @Nicholas L. mentioned you will undoubtably end up in the red each month.All the best!!!

You may have to search a bit for the right contractor or engineer - sometimes I see one solution dominating in an area - "that is how we always do it"  Thanks for the input - yes, it sounds like the specific area this house is in is particularly bad for foundation issues.  

When you pay cash for a $400,000 home and rent it out, your rate of return will likely be less than 6%.You could invest in stocks and earn 7% or better.You could put the money in a high-interest savings account and earn up to 5%.I don't understand why anyone would pay cash for real estate, erasing many benefits that increase the rate of return, while exposing themselves to the risk of loss (turnover costs, bad tenants, capex, etc.). 

Is it a bad idea to invest in properties where you would be able to collect rent that is equal or a little less than your mortgage payment?

-> Sierra west-> Bad schools,builders ready to negotiate, rents are not that greatAny advices, pointers on this .Thanks

This property has some one-of-a-kind qualities namely a nice creek with inbound and outbound waterfalls at each end of the property (its on a hill w creek canyon).I've gotten the septic scoped and certified, well is good, power needs to be reinstalled as property was abandoned years ago.

The more rentals you have the more risk there is to having a bad situation crop up.