This will take work to hunt and the number of deals will narrow, but this eliminates the money side of the equation.  

Both are viable, but also have a cost which then needs to be factored into the equation of how many properties will be required to obtain your goals.It appears you are solid in your model. 

Which at the end of the day buying is a math equation and really nothing else.

However, when I place them into the pre-purchase equation of (ARV *0.7) - repairs = Max purchase price none of them are even coming close to where they would need to be.Even with adding bedrooms, bathrooms, cosmetics, etc. it doesn't seem that any of those renovations would even get us close to the price we would need the new value to be.Obviously, the Utah market is booming and the current sell price of these homes are too high.

So, somehow or another the US government needs to have the income/expense equation move from borrowing each month in order to pay the bills to taking in enough money to cover all the expenses, the interest on the debt, and some amount of principle to retire the debt within some time period.Two ways to fix that - more income or fewer expenses.

If you say 18 months average, that equates to 2.75 vacancies per year.Total Expenses: 14162 (65.6%)Net Operating Income: 7438Debt service (P&I): 3066 (I assumed 30 years at 5.5%, with 25% down)Cash flow: 4371 (364/month).Figuring 15000 for your down payment, and closing costs of around 4000, that's about a 23% return on your 19000 invested.

Basically the equation looks like this1.

There are actual equations such as NPV, IRR, etc. that would make more sense to use than whether the cash from selling is greater than the cashflow.

The premium for a semi gloss paint might be an additional $10/gallon when flat is compared to semi gloss which equates to $50.

I was thinking perhaps giving him free rent, but to cover his expenses AND get him to take $100k of the price.There's probably an equation that will tell us how much to take off the asking price for every dollar in rent he pays until his space is filled for going rates.Any other leveraging ideas?