The kind I do not like are passed on from their parents who never learned to work so they expect you take care of them.There are some restrictions and annual inspection most have to do with safety(railing), smoke alarms, and sanitation....

As rentals the capital requirement to rent ratio is more favourable than a SFH ... to the point where you really do not care about re-sale value in 10-20 years.

If it's north of the river, be careful

However, working with a rockstar LO that understands investors and who truly cares to help you make the most money possible, now that's a game changer.Hope that helps, best of luck!

@Adam Anderson: You're right, vacancy rates ARE extremely low in Boston (currently hovering just over 3%), but for this very specific target you've mentioned be careful about timing - it's much, much harder to rent a 3bd unit outside the standard 9/1 rental cycle, versus 1-2bd units, in my experience.

You can probably live a better life style on 6k of w2 because of  Benefits  (health care being the big one)  Conventional loans are going to be tough, your income is going to be scrutinized more.  

Ron's method of selection is not typical. 

I self manage our 20 units, and I couldn't care less about who my tenants have staying with them and for how long ...

I don't care if they were paying $2500 a month...lol

Some people are starting to invest in Chicago and Cleveland recently, but be very careful of the area.