Why not encourage this?

I really appreciate the encouraging words. 

Thanks for the encouragement Ricky...

This is solely for analyzing and comparing different properties, not for tax purposes or anything else.Illustrative ExamplePurchase price - $100kClosing costs - $5kDown payment @ 20% down - $20kDown payment + closing costs - $25kAnnual cash flow - $3kCash-on-cash returns (w/o closing costs) - 15.0% [= 3 / 20]Cash-on-cash returns (w/ closing costs) - 12.0% [= 3 / 25]I have been including closing costs, because that's the cash out of my pocket on day 1 and also because it's a meaningful amount of the initial cash outlay (e.g. 5/25 = 20% in this example).

I would encourage you to look at a house hacking type of strategy to get started.

I strongly encourage you to partner with someone so you have a saftey net of at least 10K but preferably all closing costs, and then 2X of all expected holding costs.Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss it further.

Do you ever try to encourage or assist them to get started?

The company encouraged this and gave a 10% discount for paying a full year in advance if you met their criteria for an established baseline etc. so it was a win-win situation.If I was the owner with someone wanting to rent from me and pay a full year I would require a "baseline" to qualify which would probably be something along the lines of renting for at least 1 full year previously with no issues.

@Jeremy Helsabeck I’ll be the first to encourage you to take advantage of living in one of the best RE markets in the country.

The only one who gave a meaningful answer just cited minor stuff in the apartment (like not liking the color of the tub, etc.).