A few months later, tenant calls S8 for an emergency inspection and the newbie investor gets a long & expensive list of needed repairs to avoid rent abatement.

House hacking is the perfect way to get experience in investing in real estate while also covering a majority of your living expenses.

Lake Keowee has always been expensive, but I just saw a log cabin sale for less than $500k and it peaked my interest.

He has never been late & took in a room mate to help with expenses.

DSCR Rates are going to vary by quite a bit based on multiple factors (more than conventional), primarily FICO, LTV and DSCR - but also buydowns, prepayment penalties, and some alternative structures.That being said, I would say the average rate right now is around 7.5%, but can vary all the way down to 6% or higher than 9% for some special cases (like Multifamily 5+ or Mixed Use)Heres a couple articles on what goes into DSCR Rates (in addition to market) that hopefully helps!

If there are additional expenses they need to be taken into consideration such as if you are paying for water/sewer, gas or oil, trash, plowing or lawn care, HOA fees if there are any, CapEx, maintenance, vacancy, mortgage, taxes.

We did most of the renovation ourselves, but there were few things we contracted out which were more expensive than we imagined.

I am aware that Southern California in general is expensive and positive cash flow appears non-existent.

Too many factors go into determining someone's rate, and what you find online will likely just tell you what direction people THINK rates are headed, and national averages. 

Now that we've closed I'm adjusting to having 3 mortgages and managing the operations/expenses... baby steps.