Let's try to walk through your scenarios here | My responses in bold House hack live in one unit rent free | Very possible in some marketsMake $1k net per month | Usually feasible for triplexes and fourplexes in some markets, but you'd expect to have some value [Note: A deal like this are still out there, but are not the standard)Have 30k-40 equity after rehabbing the property | If you find a value-add play2-4 unit property | Yes, those you can find, no problem (market specific, again) Now, Mario, when starting out in anything (REI included) you have to be flexible and willing to sacrifice because if it were easy to get $1k/month, then a lot more people would be real estate investors. 

If you are expecting 1 month vacancy per year you need to input a 8% vacancy rate making a $2,200 rent actually about 2025; if 2 week vacancy per year your rent will be around $2,100.Best of luck to you!

How are people paying so much and expecting to profit? 

I know if you are like me I expect everything now and I believe God doesn't let things happen on my time schedule because I really do need to learn to be patient and trust that if I do things right eventually everything will fall into place.

If you think you’ll struggle with the interest payments and don’t expect an increase of income, then you’ll want to think twice before signing on the dotted line.Banks can also “call” a HELOC.

Thanks Robert, everything is working out better than I expected it to.

How much would you realistically expect a newbie to spend on marketing per month?

background:  - Mortgage free  - moved out two years ago   - Still furnished  -  HOA fee $100 month  - has an expectation of getting same value of homes sold in neighborhood that have been updated even though his still looks the same         from original build in the 90's

First one is a basic intro (we buy houses, want to buy 2 in your town this spring, selling direct is great for X reasons, let me know if you want an offer), second one highlights what type of sellers typically like to sell to investors (own timeline, no hassle, house needs repairs etc), third mailing is a simple postcard that has similar message on it, fourth mailing is a letter saying I've reached out before and thought you might find these FAQs useful (and I include a 4 pg FAQ distilled from my website)-- I expected that letter to have more response (you'll see above the 4th mailing had a <1% response rate) and it may be that ppl are waiting til after Easter to call, as I get more calls after holidays when ppl have had time to talk to their family.How to track all of this... you can guess by now that I'm super data oriented.

My partner believes no-shows are to be expected in a Class C and we should give them another chance when they attempt to reschedule.