.* timing is NEVER perfect, nor should you play with that number.

What's also risky is relying on a W-2 for the rest of your life while losing money to rent every month haha.As an investor in California, I've seen that it's more of an equity play for the first few years, then the cash flow is projected in years 3-5+.

Location shouldn't play into it as much either.

I was born and raised in NYC, so I saw first hand the shell game being played on the streets and how scams were ran.

This might sound like playing hard ball, but you need to cover your butt and do things by the letter of the law.

It's not a horrible investment play, leaving the basement unfinished, because you buy a house at a discount in a flood zone, but it rents are market because there is no downgrade to the tenant on the quality of the rental because it's in flood zone.

Play around with the numbers in the calculator (purchase price, interest rate, down payment, etc) until you start to see the trends in how each number impacts the deal.

As others have mentioned investing back in the Triad could be a good play but of course small MF properties are tough to come by. 

How did it play out?  

Unless you are looking at an appreciation play where you fix up the house while you are living in it, 3% CoC is not a great deal.