Im seeing very little in the way of cash flow properties but wanted to seewhat you all though about my inputs.Im making a few assumptions mainly looking at multifamily up to 4 units with 10% down (I know this is low but I've found banks that'll do that in my market for properties under 500k) then I account for maintenance/debt servicing from past experience (wondering if people have a better way that would take into account property age and condition for maintenance estimates), finally I set vacancy at 1 month a year (not sure if that is reasonable either). 

Having umbrella insurance or having an LLC for your property management services is a great business model to protect yourself.

I initially got started with a smaller brokerage firm, but the training just wasn't there.

Right now the most important things to look for in a broker is training and mentoring. 

Somewhere, somebody is going to need to be paid for a service.

And services have been cut to the bone.At some point we likely see bankruptcy (as predicted by the bonds), but even if we dont, its fair to say Illinois is not a growth state, and that costs for fees, and property taxes are likely headed up.So declining population, radical tenant friendly laws and high government costs all point to me as a place I would not want to invest.

Oh, and thanks for your service.

My advice would be to treat service members the same as everyone else. 

I have seen legitimately better and worse by a wide margin as local area rents / utilities / taxes / building services each play a big role.Also, from a landlords perspective, it depends on what gets passed on to the tenants (e.g.

Growth: 0%Renter Population: 30+%City Description: The city is the service hub of the county, it contains all the big box stores as well as a struggling downtown.