But I spoke with a realtor and they did a rough top of the head quote of 11k in closing costs eating up most of my down payment I was looking to use.Current rentals in the area for SFR are going for 1200-1400 a month.  

The Beginner’s Guide to Highly Effective Real Estate NetworkingAn awesome read is "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi, great book about providing value to others and building genuine relationships. 

@Jessica Rangel The word Realtor is like saying lets go eat lunch. 

Whether you are buying or selling, people still need a place to eat, sleep, work and play.You just need to know you strategy many seasoned local investors are focusing on light flips and buy and holds.

Do we just get to eat that loss along with the initial half month's rent? 

If you want to meet sometime for coffee or a bite to eat, just let me know.  

I can eat the 3% fee since it enables me to get all 4 units rental ready and get income flowing.  

For investors, if I assume 0% appreciation and a bunch of tenants rights nonsense eating up net profit, the numbers do not work for SF.

The fees are not predictable, special assessments do happen and it simply eats into your cash flow.Second your agent is right you will have no problem getting tenants, getting them to pay and keeping them is another matter entirely.

The buyers premium seems high and  eats into your profit margin.