@Mark KelleyAccount ClosedMark, I have not looked at Pittsboro but it seems to make sense based on Chapel Hill getting too expensive.  

Taxable Value 75,830Purchase 50,867Tax 1986.70Vacancy 10%Repairs 5%Capital Expenditures 5%Property Management Fee 10 %Investment results: Purchase Price: $50,867.00 Purchase Closing Costs: $3,000.00 Estimated Repairs: $0.00 Total Project Cost: $53,867.00 After Repair Value: $70,000.00 Down Payment: $10,173.40 Loan Amount: $40,694.00 Loan Points: $0.00 Loan Fees: Amortized Over: 30 years Loan Interest Rate: 5.000% Monthly P&I: $218.45 Total Cash Needed By Borrower: $13,173.00 Monthly Expenses: $643.95 Total Cash Needed: $13,173.00 Cash on Cash ROI: 5.11% Purchase Cap Rate: 6.48% Really, I know it’s not a great deal, but it’s a property that I can buy into for cheap.

I am not a banker but I think this would also help out DTI since our overall expenses are going down while rent stays the same. 

Operating expenses would need to be provided by the owner and may not fully reflect everything.

It's more expensive, but has significantly less paperwork, requires little to no income documentation and the construction financing will be paid out in draws.  

Tons of labor & laundry expense.  

In 18-months the damage will be somewhat limited and {hopefully} will not have had the opportunity to permeate the subfloor and structure {though that is a possibility} - you may just get away with a lots of cleaning and replacing finish flooring (like carpets).The longer they stay, the more expensive the repairs will be at move out.

Even my $3,360/yr maintenance budget feels a little low to me based on the rehab to be done on the first floor.Now, when I plug these numbers into the calculator referenced above (including an 8% vacancy and $280/mo for repairs and maintenance), I can see that you'll have monthly expenses of $1,640.  

I'm considering starting an LLC that I can run rental income and expenses through for the main purpose of starting a retirement plan (probably a solo 401k) so that I can start socking away some income into a tax deferred account.

East Rock appears to have some serious potential East Rock is a wonderful neighborhood but very expensive to get into.