You already have an advantage of living in the neighborhood   You have more direct knowledge that the other investors that might be bidding against you

I spent nothing extra and it takes no time to implement.

You could get all your money back plus a little extra and do it again in 7-8 months.

Again, keeping in mind that this is a small duplex, as the landlord I'd rather not pay an extra $40 a month for standalone internet/cellular service.Which leads me to my question -- insofar as the submetering system could function through a tenant's cable internet service, is there any legal prohibition on including language in a lease to require that a tenant maintain such internet service for the stated purpose of monthly water readings?  

Brand new to REI and in the process of just acquiring knowledge before diving in anywhere.Since I live in the SF Bay market craziness, I'm looking into opportunities out of the area.I know Austin has been a hot market recently, and as such may not have much available (in the cash flow sense), but I'll be visiting there next week and curious if it's worth reaching out to a realtor there to take a look around.I figure when I'm ready, I'll probably look to buy-and-hold a single family or multi family that starts with cash flow.  

This way, even if they decide that they don’t want to accept our offer and work with us, at the very least gain valuable knowledge and information on the condition of the property and the necessary repair costs.

Planning on taking the next few months to soak up as much knowledge as I can before diving in.Looking for recommendations on markets that can cash-flow and aren't too sketchy so I can start learning how to run numbers and examine an area (just in view mode right now, but might as well be in an area that I can dive into when ready).Currently live in the SF bay area, so there's really not much local that works.  

Adding an extra bedroom in dead space is a nice one if you're doing a buy and hold.

I am a beginner investor in Metro Atlanta and i have been expanding my knowledge on real estate and the right way to invest in real estate is through various books like rich dad poor dad, ABC's of real estate investing, BP book on low and no money down investing, and multifamily millions by david lindahl to prepare myself on how to build wealth from funds i will soon be recieving that i plan on making moves with.

You may, however, need to do extra work if not all partners selling will be participating in the purchase in the exchange - not all gains are tax deferred.