There are some turnkey real estate investment firms out there that offer a 100% passive solution for real estate investors.The benefits of turnkey properties are numerous, especially when you invest within emerging markets.

Also, depending on your strategy, you really can't lose money,  we buy at rock bottom prices, fix them up and rent them out--- the housing market can crash and our worst case scenario is a breaking even/small loss-- try comparing that to a small cap emerging market!   

Boiler replacement is better done when it's planned than EMERGENCY..

Just ensure you have a 6 month emergency fund before purchasing your first rental property.

I would also suggest posting copy of operation manual and troubleshooting tips that may prevent unnecessary calls as well as including a number to call if there is a maintenance emergency.

Wondering if there are any niche, unorthodox, or emerging technologies that people use that they are really excited about.Here's a non-real estate example: I love using Breaker for podcasts, it has a ton of potential and a lot of the key features I want in a podcasting platform, still some bugs and kinks to work out, but I'm excited about being an early user. 

The AI takes your tenant through an emergency diagnostic.

Other expenses might add up to $300, so the mortgage is not an overwhelming part of your expenses.When the unit is standing empty, you need $600 / mo, half of that going to expenses you will have whether you take out a mortgage or not: taxes, insurance, and maintenance.So taking out that mortgage doesn't create a huge payment; what it does, assuming you had the money to pay cash in the first place, is leave you money either for an emergency fund, or, better, to invest in another house which, even if also mortgaged, should also cash flow.

I've dealt with evictions and cap-ex emergencies but no where near that rate..

Since most of Chicago is on a standard lot and there are building code limitations It would be great for these architects to give you 3 template options and builders will emerge who can spec build easily because they are doing the same thing over and over - which will reduce the cost.