First off: congratulations on saving up 16k - most people barely have $16 to their name. 

I barely made a profit and I paid cash for everything.

I saw income growth as the path to a "better" vehicle or "better" widget I'd barely notice was improved.

. $25k would barely buy a rental in a rough area but doing some Value Add (through Hard Money or Conventional, @Tim Swierczek does both) would make your money go farther.Could also find deals from wholesalers, but look for Value Add.

It doesn’t matter to me if other people are just barely covering their operating expenses.

Yet I loved the numbers so might buy more.Always networking to learn more and keep my ears to the ground understanding what is going on.If I can help ask awayAlexPlease bare with spelling and Grammar it is 221 am est. 

It is not unusual for especially an old guy who has had the place forever to basically do nothing to fix things, barely screen tenants, leave units unfilled, don't keep recognizable records and just collect whatever rent they can.

This was my first BRRR (my second rental overall, but my first rental doesn't really count because I bought it as a primary residence in 2005, moved out in 2015 and it was underwater and couldn't sell it due to market crash, so now its a rental that barely breaks even). 

Then Zillow, which posts on a few other sites as well.Facebook barely had any listings in my area.

I made my first offer on a house I can barely afford as a primary resident (3bd, 1.5ba close to Tufts University), I am glad the owners went with another offer, I would of paid close to 2.5k a month in "rent" for a single room assuming I rented out the other rooms at a near optimal price.