A duplex that cash flowed good at purchase barely cash flowed a few years later.  

The cashflow is such a small amount of the returns that I make that I barely care about it.  98% of my game is buying non-performing or low performing properties and turn them around. 

Now bare in mind I could be wrong on this because it is hear say and not personal experience. 

I've been working two jobs and still barely paying our bills.

(A routine thing I do to all my toilets now).  ...You might want to look into one of these:http://m.homedepot.com/p/Fluidmaster-Water-Saving-...What I actually do to lower the flow into the fill tube is to get some bare electrical wire and bend it into a U-shape and then pinch the tubing to lower the amount of water that goes into the full tube. 

You can make an argument that I have cracked the code, but I'd say that I have barely scratched the surface of the Bay Area real estate goldmine.

Using the same "2%" rule that people love so much, I have determined in the great neighborhood, and school district that I live in, that I have a threshold of about 1.25% at the bare minimum. 1% is just too thin, barely any cash flow, and wiggle room if the rental market drops in the future.

Blue or pink tile bath?

Option #1: I can buy a property in good school district @ $300k that barely cash flows positive after 25% down @ 4.5% interest .Option#2: Because the $500k+ market is not that hot, I can buy & move into a new home (~$500k) within the same area(Allen, TX) with minimal disruption to kids schooling and rent my current residence (SFR) valued at $550k+.

When you make that kind of return over that many years, the "hit" you take from "losing 100% of your principal" in a fire barely budges your return!