Carpet get dirty on traffic areas, walls need touch up or to be repainted - and all these not billable to Tenants because it's normal wear and tear.Besides, vacancies makes the biggest loses in this business - even repairs are not the number one expense.I'm very reluctant to sign even one year lease and if Tenants go month-by-month without renewing, the rent jumps up to $100/mo on $800-900/mo.The only reason to Rent month-by-month I see as you have huge demand for these rentals which might be because you Rent below market or have extremely nice rentals for the price.I'm renting slightly higher than average market and it might take quite some time to re rent the house.

I currently work full-time Military Law Enforcement, transitioning to the local Cumberland County police force and my wife is an Air Traffic Controller at Fayetteville International.

There is seasonality in renting for sure - if you end up with vacant rentals after the school start in autumn, you will see a decrease in inquiries and less traffic, and likely a reduction in rent.But also the rents are, if not stagnant or decreasing, for sure not keeping up with the property tax increases and other expenses.

Before doing anything I always check with ALEXA (dot) com to see the amount of traffic the site is receiving.

It is more than possible to commute to the university without using a car, in fact, due to pretty horrendous rush hour traffic, I would strongly advise against trying to regularly commute via car.Do not limit yourself to searching only for 4-plexes, consider purchasing a large house with multiple bedrooms and renting those out as well.I live on Beacon Hill which is no longer reasonably priced, but I am happy to answer any questions you have about Seattle.

A land's value is more about traffic counts,site development costs,utility hookups,topography,zoning,soil analysis,etc. then asking price.

The traffic can be bad. 

It is not a highway or a major traffic street by any means but residence cut thru this street to cross Hollywood Blvd at the traffic light on 13th Ave.

Charlotte is certainly a nice city that provides all the benefits of a big city without some of the downsides such as terrible traffic and super expensive living costs.

For example, my personal residence backs to a 2 lane semi-arterial road and the traffic generated from it showed up as an EO on my appraisal and my property value was reduced 10k because of it. 2nd example: My brother purchased a home last year in the same area I live in and his home is about 30 yards from a large row of power lines.