One of my kick phrases to mentees is price is the dollars you pay, value is the benefit you derive, and cost is price x the aggravation of a missed expectation of value.  

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

Is there a number of times I repair it and then increase the rent a specific amount to cover the repair bills.

People are getting poorer quicker and wages are not keeping pace with the cost of living.  

There are a lot of extra costs that go with home ownership-property taxes, repairs and maintenance, etc. 

Wealth Building vs Cash FlowMy proposition is that too many real estate investors, much too often, emphasize cash flow over increasing net worth.

I am 25 years old, since I was 9 my dad made me read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and 1 year an a half ago I was transferred to USA from work, in that book he talks about financial freedom and real state, so  I recently bought the book how to invest in real estate, by Joshua and Brando (I am still on page 120) however with each page my interest increased, which lead me to this forum. 

There are other solutions out there and I'd like to emphasize that people shouldn't jump to paying for a bookkeeping service that might cost 3% or more of their gross revenue.There is Quicken for business and Waves accounting, and likely many other software programs.

Do you know what the costs should be? 

"Off market" can be good if it fits into your strategy of the time and effort outweighs the actual cost savings.