After a little reading here and there, I figured my best plan is to save up while I'm in college and then buy a 2-3 flat, live in one apartment, and rent out the rest so my tenants essentially pay the mortgage.

I can't figure out how anyone makes money in rentals in the Bay Area so we will likely look to invest in markets that are long distance from where we currently live, but in areas we could see ourselves living in one day in the future: Southern California (North County, San Diego), Oregon, and Louisiana.Looking forward to soak up as much I can and meeting the many fine folks on these forums as well as finding areas I can help others out (I build websites for a living).Cheers!

I figured many of you here have been in the same situation so I'd love to hear how you worked out your arrangements.Thanks!

Yes, you figure all income that the property produces in you valuation.

I’m starting to bang my head against the wall trying to make anything pencil not knowing exactly what the property taxes will be but figuring it is the combined rate on the tax assessor’s site multiplied by the acquisition price.

Also, the fact that I'm obtaining their property but will just go find another person to lease option. i.e. some sort of sandwich.I can't figure out why any seller would want to do this??

There's a cool meetup the 2nd Saturday of every month that might be perfect....no sales, just a bunch of people in similar positions as you trying to figure it all out and sharing resources.Have you started looking for properties to house-hack yet?

When selling, I usually figure about 10% of the selling price. 6% for realtor, 1% for title policy, about 2% to help the seller close and about 1% for misc fees (doc prep, escrow fees, recording fees, etc).Things will vary by company, but 10% is a pretty safe amount to budget for.

I’m trying to figure out the best strategy to go with?

I don’t know what that figure includes.Taxes = $1,743/yrInsurance = $1,817/yrUtilities = $1,459/yr (water, sewer, trash)I put all this info in my cost model.