You could eliminate a couple of people by not being being available on the 1st but I wouldn't sweat it.Try and schedule  couple of open houses before the tenants move out if house shows well with their stuff.

Looking at your available funds of $40k ($200k purchase price) that will get you a single family home in a C-D neighborhood.

Check their website for current rebates, sometimes it can almost entirely offset the cost of running the line into the house, assuming the main is available on the street.I converted my primary residence this past winter and saved a good bit. 

@Alex Salas You could also start looking at the inventory currently available in your area.

I never rent to anyone that is not available for a personal interview.Not beng able to pay required deposits means your applicants are not qualified and your screening standards are far too low.

Nowadays we have so many resources available so we can dip our toes in the water first before completely diving into an industry. 

When better options are exhausted or too costly the other options (such as IB, border state area, and to a lesser degree Oceanside (which has already experienced significant price increase)) are what are available. 

Not sure if available in Alaska, but i'd also add the coverage "ordinance and law" coverage. 

Joel, Is your triplex still available?

I am having a hard time finding a lender that will loan less than $50,000 and that is okay with the fact that I only have about $5,000 of liquid assets available to use for investing purposes.