Pros:Fewer days on the market (aka reduce vacancy) from additional marketing time and lining up the tenant before the existing tenant has vacatedStaged homes rent better than one w/o furniture (although rare the tenant has good enough style :))Ability to perform an informal "move-out" inspection, which provides a better idea of the turnaround time before the new tenants can move-inTenants may tidy up the place a bit and get a head start on their move-out process (rare, but worth pointing out)Cons:Reduced rent --> assuming some of the above bullet points are a stretch from reality (aka staged home and tidy up the place), the clutter and style may detract tenants from wanting to move-inInconvenience to the existing tenantsCoordination of the showings requires contacting the existing tenantsI know many SFH will list the property while other tenants are in it, but you must take it on a case-by-case basis, and it's heavily dependent on the existing tenants.

You could stretch your money out even further this way. 

While $1000 net from the first property might be quite a stretch, remember that you can buy additional 2-4 unit properties using FHA loans. 

Still ironing out details but preliminary return looks like it's going to come in the the low 30's profit.I'm stretched on other investments at the time but don't want to pass this up.

It can get a little heavy to stay in the messy home for long stretches of time.

I'm stretched pretty far as lending goes.

It could be stretching the truth.  

The general goal is to purchase *** FIVE ***  4-Plex's worth $600K each, where I put %20 down (so $120K down on each).The stretch part of the plan - I'd like each 4-Plex to cash flow $2K a month.

But the Fed and Congress can try to stretch it longer if they want to..

During these past ten years anyone who could fog a mirror and had some cash and/or some smarts could have or should have done well whether they invested in RE or the stock market as they've both rebounded very well during this last spurt.I'm no guru by any stretch but at 70+ years old and God willing still swinging, I have lived through at least 7 economic downturns from the '69 aerospace debacle to the '73 & '79 oil embargoes to the 79 Jimmy Carter 18 to 21% inflationary crisis to the '89 mortgage debacle to the 2000 high tech meltdown to the '08 mortgage meltdown.All that stated, what I'm seeing now is the absolute worse time in America's socio- economic history.