As noted above, up to 50% of gross rental income normally gets eaten up by expenses (taxes, management fees, utilities, landscaping, repairs, capex, etc).

He said even driving to pick up the rent check doesn't count (the driving part doesn't count), but picking up the check does (how long does that take?

Pick one that is improving, homes being renovated and flipped, vacant storefronts being turned into cool coffee shops etc.Good luck.

I utilize a PO Box as well.It wouldn't be hard for our tenants to find out where we live (tax assessor's online tool) ~ But for $50/yearly ... it gives me a bit more piece of mind :)

I'm in the processes of picking up a 20-pack of studio's around the same threshold.

This property is gonna cash flow over $1000 a month after we're all said and done with utilities mortgage and more.

Now for how to pick the market, well that's simple.

Here's how I do my due diligence:1) Portfolio matching: (takes 30 seconds per deal)a) Have an educated opinion on where I think we are in the real estate cycles (financial and physical market cycles)b) Then and only then do I pick the strategies, capital stack, and specialized asset subclasses that make sense for that opinion.

I've found that every time I've tried to get "clever" in my investments and pick the next hot thing, I've gotten burned. 

@Venice Victory not sure if you picked up prior comments about ordinary tax rates.