Your statement is correct if the goal is cash flow *on this one property*, but there are other ways the cash could be deployed that could help the original poster make additional money.The most financially pure way to evaluate this decision would be to build a cashflow projection and calculate the internal rate of return on your different options, which would be a function of how fast you expect rents/expenses to grow, how long you'll hold the property, the amount you'll sell it for, etc. 

I have a cabinet shop in East Texas and have seen remodels & flips that are just a pure hackjob so I love seeing flippers take pride in their design & work.   

Im building is plan for myself, and it's helping me make decisions about what type of investing I am more interested in purely by doing the analysis, but it also is making myself accountable to specific actions over time that I can measure myself to. 

That MLS idea is pure genius!

I would never advise someone to buy/invest in LA purely for value growth or to buy beyond their means.

Earning an extra $20 - 40,000 a year means more potential investment cash, better DTIs, etc.If you intend on being a real estate professional and making your money purely in real estate, an MBA would be a complete waste of time.  

If this is a purely investment play, I would be looking at some of the rougher but improving neighborhoods as these will offer the possibility of higher returns. 

But that additional cash flow is the return on your money, not the return from the property.There may well be other factors that might make this a better investment, but purely considering it as a rental, its a loser.

Think about how many people are reading this thread purely because it is trending right now, not to mention keyword alerts.

We have acquired our properties through personal properties turned investments when we leave and pure rentals.