Some lessons learned, ownership is expensive and time consuming, roommates never want to help with house improvements, and make sure to include the income on taxes.

What am I missing here folks, what am I not factoring in, has anyone else been in this situation, is there a better solution to offset the expense of a mortgage of $1900?  

I just bought a home in Farmersville Tx and my only out of pocket expense was the inspection, 0% down through various programs and negotiations.

What most people don't seem to get is that the small percentage 3-7% in most cases gets severely chopped up and goes to many different parties or expenses.

Purchase data:Asking price: $85,000My offer price: $73,500ARV: (per Redfin sold data) ±$110,000 Rehab: guessing around $10,000Closing/inspection, etc: $650 (i have no clue on this number)Holding Costs: $1,147 assuming about 2 months for rehabCash Purchase - all in for $85,297Income data:Rent: $1,050 per month (from zillow area rent data)Expenses (monthly):HOA: $17Insurance: $60Taxes: $166.67Vacancy: $52.50Repairs/maint: $52.50CapEx: $105.00Property Management: $105.00Total: $558.67NOI: $491.33 ($5,896 annual)Refinance:LTV: 75% of ARVLoan amount: $82,500 @3.75% for 30 years (estimated)Payment: $382.07Refi fees: $2,500 (assumed)Total cash invested post refi: $5,297.33  ( I'm not sure if i calculated this number correctly, any input would help me greatly!!)

In the grand scheme of things it's not a lot of money but TRIG is less expensive, more established, and seems to be overall better.

Then landlords tried putting a cap on the utility bills, for example: anything over $300 tenant pays, but students didn't like it because they thought everything was included and now they're getting a random bill which they didn't budget into their expenses.

Doesn't look too bad depending on how accurate your expense number are.

I am working on doing some wholesale and flip deals in SoCal as well, a little further East of you where it's not quite as expensive...

This has all recently changed in the last couple months and I wish I began sooner because I've learned a ton.My goal here is to network with other investors and wholesalers, learn from success stories and/or failures, hear about what other people are doing to find deals in expensive markets like mine (Boston), and hopefully I can help others out as well.Looking forward to connecting with more investors who share the same goals and investing interests as me.