You can definitely reach 5% - it'll just cost you north of 10 points.

Better than the alternative of having a line of credit at 12%, the 2-3% hit in spread is lower than a 5% increase in cost of capital in my opinion.

I often refi people with a 0.5% rate drop and no closing costs.  

Not cost money each month.

The cost of living is extremely low compared to other cities and you can still many many positive cash flowing and 1% deals here.

There are even members that will respond here that have ulterior motives, so you shouldn't trust them.Go through the content available here on BP and then start looking for a Property Management Company you can build a relationship with - but, still verify & validate what they do as no one is perfect and even an honest mistake can cost thousands.Some agents may post here to start with them, but 95%+ of agents don't know how to properly identify a rental property to buy.

I’m currently in a duplex that I house hack and the tenant’s rent covers my property taxes, my water and sewer bills, and almost all maintenance costs.

REHAB What was the outcome?

However, what is the cost of staying out of the market?  

I spent about 35K fixing it up and was all in about 50K with taxes and court costs etc.