-Age and condition of SFR you are thinking of 1031 exchanging.

Nontheless we still knew that at one point or another action of some sort had to take place to secure our financial future.Two weeks ago after a long day at work while attending to our almost 2 year old I googled "Investing in real estate at a young age" due to the fact that im in my late 20's.  

can you determine a worst case rehab number based on exterior viewing,  age of house,  etc? 

Also they have social security they cant touch until 65, but can start investing it at age 25-30 i believe.....

But, today realized my unfair advantage.I think this could be a fun thread for everyone to share their unfair advantage(s)For me it's the following:My age: I'm 22 years oldMy job: full time, pays greatFamily: Avid do-it yourselfers, ready to tackle any project, anytime.Credit: Good standing, low debt Current properties owned: Small single family that is in process of being fully renovated( way more work that I antipisated).

Sometime  when I see people my own age having fun and not worry about future, I feel a little bit jealous.

You are starting off early and that's a great thing I wish I would have done what you are doing now at the same age!!!

The property is rented for $825 a month (tenant in place when we sold it) and the mortgage payment is a little under $500,  There is little cash flow right now but it will be fully paid off in 8 years when our investor will be close to retirement age.  

You may have a deferred maintenance (check age or roof, AC, WaterHeaters, foundation) Congrats on long term tenants, probably rent is way below market, may small nice adjustments after taking over - like $20 per year or so to keep tenants in place.

Which on the low side would give you ~ 950+1125 =2075 in rent lets take this as your starting point Gross income for the year 24,900Now that we have an estimated rent / Gross Income lets start accounting for things...Gross Income (GI): 24,900Vacancy: -1,494 (6%)Total Gross Operating Income (GOI): 23,406Expenses...Property management: -2,490 (assuming 10%)Repairs and maintenance: -1,245 (assuming 5%)CapEx: -2,490 (assuming 10%, I generally do a calculation for this on the age of every CapEx item for a property and it is generally around 5%, but this is a duplex so I am taking a short cut and doubling it since you have two of everything except the roof)Taxes: -2,512 (From the eprop tax site for Sac)Water / Sewer / Garbage: -2,880 (Approximate, generally around 120 per month per house, again doubled for duplex, you could pass this on to the tenant potentially but accounting for it for now)Insurance:  -1,400 (this is a pure guess here)Total Expenses: -13,017 ~55.6% of GOI or 52.3% of GI Net Operating Income (NOI): 10,389Now that we have an expected NOI we need to figure out how much you can pay for this property and still make the return you are looking for.