The 3 unit building I have barely gets any use out of the coin op....then again there's a laundry mat 100 yards away, so I figured I'd bring this to the forum!  

This property barely meets the 1% rule, but this is common in this area.  

It's barely NOW showing signs of life.I would love to have the owner finance the property for me, however, I haven't asked yet because I just assumed since the gentlemen is in the later stages of his life, he wouldn't want to carry a loan and would prefer the cash up front.

I just barely break even and probably make about $50 a month or so on this rental but it is not a negative cash flow property.

@Peter Halliday Both Maywood and Bellwood got hit HARD during the recession and are barely limping back into existence.

You're squeezing every dollar out of this thing doing your own PM and work, and still barely making anything, so I don't see this as much of an opportunity.  

The rents barely cover mortgage and expenses currently.So, my ask:  What would you recommend doing with the above (do you even think its doable) to both provide income to live on and long term investment?  

I guess i have got really lucky because i barely have a high school education.

I would suggest the CPA (and I can recommend a good one locally if you need one) because how you set up the entity has a huge baring on how you're taxed.

In your example, you're literally eating your principle every year, then when you sell, you've barely got anything left at almost 500K.