I’m not confident on my calculations for ARV or Rehab cost and don’t want to get a property under contract if it’s not really a deal.

In general higher cost neighborhoods are safer than lower cost neighborhoods.

Mod Building if done right cuts your carrying cost and your installation time making it more affordable. 

BRRRR also assumes you nail the rehab and refinance steps, which can trip up newbies if costs or appraisals don’t align.

Be conservative on your rehab budget, rehab timeline, holding costs, etc.

As a NY'er what was important to me was 1. cost of market entry 2. price to rent ratio 3. 

It's tempting early on to leverage as much as you can so you can do more deals and keep liquidity, but increased cashflow especially with PMI will make you sleep a lot better at night.

Can try to reposition to Class B, but neighborhood may impede these efforts.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, but 15-20% should be used to also cover tenant nonpayment, eviction costs & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores of 560-620 (approaching 22% probability of default), many blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 2 years.

Quote from @Melanie Baldridge: In 2025 the bonus depreciation rate is 40%.This means that if you bought a property for $1M in 2025, did a cost seg study and found $300K in eligible assets that you could depreciate, you could take 40% of that $300K as bonus depreciation to offset your income in the first year.40% of $300K = $120K.You then apply that $120K to the owner’s personal tax rate to find the final amount that they can defer in year 1.If your tax rate is 37%, you can defer $66.6K.This is a big deal even at the 40% bonus depreciation rate this year.It’s a massive benefit 

Sometimes, unseen issues (like major repairs) end up costing more than the discount you negotiated.Final Thoughts•If there are no major rental restrictions, and the numbers work based on rental comps, this could be a great first investment.