Also if you want to eliminate Cap/ex you may go into a $20/$30k house put $10/$20k in rehab and that takes out the Cap/ex.

What cap rate are you looking for?

You will just quit your W2 job and become a self employed property manager.So if you are looking for retirement income you should factor in the cost of a property manager, as well as turns, vacancy, repairs, and Cap Ex, which will probably alter the numbers you are expecting.Also add into this, personal asset protection set up and ongoing costs, as well as accounting advice, bookeeping costs, and tax preparation costs if you intend to go in that direction, and not do it yourself (which if you DIY will make you a part time tax repairer and also not retired).Many people get into this because they want to retire, but in reality it seems they are just quiting their job to become self employed.

.- What's a realistic cap rate for STR's in the area?

You can't go into their office saying you want to look at B properties trading at an 8% cap rate when the market cap rate is 4% for those deals.Just from a human psychology perspective, it's always great to give someone the chance to be the expert and teach you.  

What’s the good cap rate range?

The ARV is just a cap.

As you get over 4 units you need to consider not only how you would evaluate the property as an investment but also how a commercial lender will evaluate it.Things that you might look at that you might not consider on a SFH are cap rate, Debt coverage ratio, various way to calculate ROI, and expense like snow and trash removal that you don't encounter on SFH.

When they don't know rental comps, CAP rates, price to rent ratio's and basic rehab cost projections, or have systems set up to get those numbers, dealing with investors is more work than they are willing to take on.The WNY area is a great cash flow market. 

We will have access to more than $140,000 with a heloc on our own property and some potential private money, so we won’t necessarily be capped at that range.