However the taxes are high and if I house hack my mortgage eats all of the cash flow.

I would say that as long as it's a title company you're comfortable with, and the seller is willing to eat all of the costs, it's probably not a big deal one way or the other.

Why not have your cake and eat it too.

Anything else I'm trying to make pass through - I don't want to eat the cost of the expanded consumables though.

Equity, because it isn't liquid, has only a linear return...unless it is strategically (as in timing) converted to liquid.If a property has negative CF, it is losing an exponential return...not just the face value that is negative...and it is eating into any gains from appreciation.Truth is, one without the other is not good either.

I have been living, eating and sleeping real estate for over a month now.

Today's market it eats all of your profits.

I'd want to get the property cheaper for a $40K rehab and $80K ARVAlso to add that you’d have the city license fee and inspection issues to deal with which eats into your roi.

Your GC is right - a failed septic could be a huge repair ticket and eat all your profits.

Ie ability to eat huge rent reductions (zero chance of this in my markets) and still cover the mortgage. - no debt rentals in our solo 401ks.