And, for goodness sake, maintain healthy reserves.Best to you.

However, investing without a healthy cash reserve is way too risky.

LOLWork on your first one and get that down pat.Yes over time you can minimize costs and pump up the profit numbers each year over the 50% guideline.When you go to sell the new buyer will be looking at a lot of deferred issues resulting in a lower price.The bathrooms and kitchens and mechanicals will need replacing at various times.I see this all the time where apartment owners show healthy returns over the years but when I look at it I can see huge costs in needed repairs going in.These repairs if you tell yourself are not a big deal will take away every ounce of future cash flow for years from your projections.

You also could look at new construction is there is a healthy market (Boise?).

It is a healthy fear.

Justin & Jennifer,A healthy debate and a fine conclusion.

On the other hand it would be nice to pull the equity out so I have a healthy down payment when returning to WA.

The recession was tied to the 9/11 and dot.com events so the local banks who operate nationally and internationally were impacted a bit.Charlotte is similar to Portland OR and Seattle WA in that it sort of missed the boom so the market is healthy now.

More alligators will only mean you are closer to death if you lose your job, etc.As the LV market is not really all that healthy and there is high turnover there will be deals to be done.

You do have a "clean and healthy environment" clause in your lease, don't you?