It seems like it has the potential to be a decent house hack where I can live in one side and rent out the other side, but I am analyzing it as if I were renting out both units.Here's the overview:Seller accepted my offer of $90,000 (they were originally asking $95,000)Similar sized duplexes rent for around $1,500 total ($750 per unit)The total gross rent would be about 1.6% of the purchase price.I can get a conventional 30 year loan @ 4.5% interest, with a 5% down payment.Mortgage payments with PMI would be around $469 according to mortgagecalculator.org (not including taxes or insurance)Using the 50% rule of thumb to estimate expenses, I might be able to cash flow around $140 per unit.Here's what I found out when I went inside:There are 2 new forced air furnaces.Updated pex and PVC piping.Updated electrical wiring with separate panels.2 old corroded hot water tanks.

In truth I bet the cash flow is better outside the city, because I spend far less on turning a unit than those in town do, I suspect.

I charge for them, because so many of the deals don't pan out.I charge my time plus scope of work, usually works out to be about $275-$500 depending on size of property and how large it is. 

My listing agent gave me 1 comp for a property that was also fixer upper but was zoned R2 and was on a lot twice the size.

The appraisal alone for a property of this size is going to run $4k+ if I had to bet.

I'll bet that they're every bit as strict as MA. 

What size property are you looking at?

It's around $1800, yeah it looks like a bad one, but I'm betting on future tech companies (apple, google) to bring more positions to the city and appreciation might be able to cut it, but I could be totally wrong though.

Looking to get some clarity on this matter -- a lot of people on BP suggests a percentage method, which I think can be a miscalculation for cheaper and older SFHs because a lot of capex is fixed, but rental income, size of house, vintage of house, type of neighorhood factors into the calculation.

Coming in at a whooping $20,000, and rent in the area for an apartment that size being $950 a month, you can see why I say this would be a great acquisition.