A simplistic illustration  would be If you bought a property for 100K and sold it for 200k you have a gain of 100K whether you owe 100K on it or 200K on it when you sell.  

Here is a good article illustrating the alliance between state and developers in NJ, for instance:  http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/1...

It's a comedy show which illustrates how to not run a family owned real estate development company.Almost everyone in the family can't stand each other, and the rest of the time their company is under investigation by the government for "slight treason charges". 

But systems must come with a warning label.I'll illustrate the warning label by utilizing your very own plumbing example.

These are general numbers for illustrative purposes. 

I think it illustrates the point that is often made on BP: Home ownership has a lot more hidden costs than people realize.

I was fortunate enough to purchase this property with zero money down, but let's use a 25% down payment to illustrate what the cash flow looks like with a more traditional purchase. 

Thank you for your taking the time and illustrating your success. 

My point was only to illustrate a bit of what we do here in Houston.

(It's obvious at this point the debt service is greater than your net, but again, capex is a reserve not an actual expense YoY, and this example is deliberately a very mediocre set of numbers to illustrate the point).