Rent in his desired neighborhood.Here's some motivation: https://www.goodegginvestments.com/blog/buy-or-invest-200k.

You can even get a BS or MA in re in selective schools desirable in commercial RE world.

Anyway, the point of this is to say you cannot apply the same strategies touted on BP to other countries or for that matter the desirable areas of the US either (like California or New York or Seattle etc).

If I adjust for three of the units paying their own electric than my approximate electrical usage drops to $2066 per year which increases cash flow to $5,248 annualy.Here are my numbers as they currently stand:  Assumes $700 mo for the owner occupied unit than 500, 550 and 350  monthly.All tenants are on a month to month so I am not locked in with them so if they don't wish to pay their own electric I can move new tenants in.InputsResultsPurchase price:$105,000Down payment amount:$21,000Scheduled monthly income:$2,100Total out-of-pocket expenses:$22,200Other monthly income:$0Vacancy rate (%):5.00%Debt Service Calculations:Number of Units4Blended rate:5.500%Financing information:1st loan amount:$84,000Down payment (%):20.00%1st loan monthly payment:$4771st loan portion (%):80.00%2nd loan amount:$02nd loan portion (%):0.00%2nd loan monthly payment:$01st loan interest rate:5.500%Total annual debt service:$5,7231st loan term (yrs):30Amortization (yrs)301st loan closing costs:$1,200Income and expenses:2nd loan interest rate:0.000%Gross scheduled rental income:$25,2002nd loan term (yrs):0Gross other income:$0Amortization (yrs)0Total gross income:$25,2002nd loan closing costs:$0.00Less vacancy:-$1,260Total annual operating expenses:-$15,114Operating Expenses (annual):Net Operating Income:$8,826Real estate taxes:$2,300Annual cash flow:$3,103Insurance:$900HOA dues:$0Management fees:$2,640Rates and ratios:Legal expenses:Capitalization rate:8.41%Marketing:Cash-on-cash return:13.98%Landscaping and snow removal:$0Debt service coverage ratio:1.542Maintenance and repairs:$1,320Reserves:$528Other Calculations (precise in one-loan scenarios):Supplies:Minimum desired DSCR:1.2Other:$0Purchase price to support minimum DSCR:$134,935Landlord paid utilities (annual):Average Cap Rate Supported (based on local area):9.6%Garbage:Water and sewer:$2,052MAXIMUM purchase price to support required Cap Rate$84,730 Electricity:$4,210Gas:$1,164Phone/Cable/Internet:$0

The problem w/ high vacancy is those who may be considering buying a condo to live may not be able to get financing because vacancy is too high.Our rule of thumb for condos- If the bldg has little to no vacancy (its thus desirable) & the HOA rules don't prevent rentals & the HOA fees support the cash flow numbers then hit the offer button.  

Where operable windows are required or desired, casement/awning are your best design, followed by tilt-n-turn, then your single/double hung and, bringing up the rear, your horizontal slider.Finally, it also pays to "tune" your windows to your location and the exposure where they will be installed.  

The house is in Ballard location which is desirable one.

I also converted an existing building into condos.If you had 4 condos in one desirable neighborhood, that would be similar to having a 4 unit apt in that neighborhood, except that you would be able to sell individual units without selling the other 3. 

Here's how I approached it:Searching on CL and Zillow got me to this SFH in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore (hipster/very desirable, lots of cute restaurants, shops, Whole Foods, etc.).

hi everybody,my name is elisha mcginley, and i'm a new member. i really don't know where to begin, so i suppose i'll tell you about who i am and what my goals are. i grew up very poor. i was homeless for the first time before i started elementary school, and have been homeless a few times since. my childhood was pretty unstable. when i was 17, i moved into my first apartment. i worked a grueling job for $4.15 an hour, 35 hours a week, and continued to go to high school, but i eventually dropped out with the realization that having a roof over my head and food to eat was the most imperative thing in my life. i'm not telling you this to pull your heart strings, but to express my gratitude: because of my experiences, i earned an insatiable desire to find a home... not just a house, but a real home. i also learned a lot about human nature and how much potential i had to succeed with a stacked deck in life. i began having health issues in my mid teens, which resulted in surgery and being told i couldn't have kids, but i proved that hypothesis wrong when i had my first son at 21. when i found out i was pregnant, i immediately got my ged, because i knew i couldn't provide for my son working at gas stations and fast food restaurants. when i was 24 i separated from my husband, decided to go to college for architecture(so i could build my own home), and fell in love with someone else. soon after my first year in school, i had my second son, and found myself single again. i still consider myself very lucky, because no matter my relationship with either dad, both of them are very devoted fathers, and we are all able to coparent in the best interest of my kids. however, architecture school demanded complete devotion, and being a mom was more important to me, so i left my dream behind. a year or two later, i went to school for auto cadd, with the hopes of staying in the field of architecture, but i added mechanical cadd to the mix, just to widen my scope. i worked full time during the day at a college text book store, and went to class four hours a night, four days a week, until i was laid off. i was half way through school when i landed my first professional job as an electrical drafter. i graduated with a 3.8 gpa and a great job that i loved. i bought a 5 bedroom house, and i was content to just keep plugging away, working hard and kicking butt. then, our contract with the military was awarded to another aeronautic company, and i was laid off again. it didn't stop me, though. i laid low and stayed broke for about a year until i landed my current job as a technical writer. my starting pay was $10,000 a year less than my previous job, but the economy wasn't the best, and i was just glad to be back in the saddle. i don't love my job as much as my last job, but it is a good job, it has its benefits, and i'm almost back to the income i had become accustomed to. i still consider myself blessed. hey, i have come from poverty to being a single mom(no child support, alimony, or even child tax credits- it's all me) with a 5 bedroom house in a nice neighborhood, a car that's paid off, an education that i paid off this year, and one credit card. i'd say that makes me pretty successful. but then, tragedy struck again. little more than a year ago, i began having health issues. i would randomly begin shaking and sweating and feeling dizzy and nauseated. my pulse would accelerate, and it was extremely uncomfortable. i went to the er and they told me i'd had a heart attack. after a month of wearing a heart monitor, i was relieved to hear i hadn't had a heart attack, but i have a mitral valve prolapse. but, it still didn't explain the weird attacks i was experiencing. after months of trying to figure out what was wrong with me, someone suggested i get tested to lyme, and what do you know- that's what it was. when i was first diagnosed, i was relieved. i was under the impression i only needed a round of antibiotics and *poof*, i would be magically cured. this was not the case. in fact, the treatment exacerbated my symptoms and presented new symptoms. that's when i learned about herxheimer reaction- "herxes". basically, lyme is a bacterial infection, and when the bacteria dies off, it released a mass amount of toxins that the(already compromised) immune system just can't process. think about cancer treatments- they aren't pleasant. without spending too much time on the subject, chronic lyme can not be cured, but it can be put into remission. it effects every organ and system in the body(my mitral valve prolapse is a symptom- yeah, symptom of lyme). it can even get in the spinal fluid and the bones. the range of symptoms is unbelievable. i thought i was going to die. i've never hurt so bad in my life. but, it woke me up. i had been willing to settle for plugging away as a technical writer, slowly paying my debts until retirement, but that scenario no longer works for me. nothing brings you back to reality quicker than realizing your own mortality. i'm not afraid to die, but i'm worried for the mess i could be leaving behind for my kids. i know something has to change. i'm still sick, but i had to stop the treatment to get back to work. i have become even more motivated to make a lasting change. i want to be able to afford the time and money needed to get into remission, but at the very worst, i want to be debt free before i kick it. and suddenly, a few days ago, it occurred to me that i could become a real estate investor with little or no money. what do you do when life gives you lyme?