You could even take out some more expenses related to vacancy and phantom maintenance and I would still view this as a decent cash flow opportunity. 

You neighborhood will reflect your tenants, which will reflect in your maintenance costs.

Since then I have incorporated the podcast into my everyday routine and I can't get enough.

My budget includes basic insurance on my car, gas, and maintenance.

After  your mortgage, vacancy, maintenance and capex it really wouldn't make you any money.

I'd fix a leaky pipe, replace a broken fridge and invest in maintenance of a heating/cooling system - a chipped sink, not so much.Depending on the importance of repairing the sink and the cost of reglazing, taking into account whether or not you'll be replacing the whole counter in the forseeable future, I'd either get it reglazed (do it again if it wears out incredibly in five years) or buy a do-it-yourself kit and touch up the chips, scratches, or whatever is bothering you.

Obviously you could argue that a little more that would come back to you via taxes (~1-1.2k in most tax situations) but for sake of explanation I’m just trying to show that it shouldn’t be a fixed 2% that you plug into your calculations…Another reason I look at the 2% rule and chuckle a little is that while it may work in certain locations where the cost of ownership is low and maintenance is a much bigger percentage of the yearly picture it doesn’t hold up well under many areas.

He will get a stream of income, and you get a property and experience with management, maintenance and all the rest. 

But it seems silly to refinance if the house is not going anywhere and has lots of deferred maintenance.

Condition, location and maintenance needs are very important.One tenant factor you may run into is the affordability of c/a.