Anyway, my experience has been overwhelmingly positive.....And treating tenants decently is just how I do business.... that said I have B class new builds so my tenants can afford higher rent....but I do try to treat my tenants as paying customers, i respect them and i dont rip them off or trick them.

Hi Shauna,It's really a matter of what you can afford now and will be able to continue to afford. 

It was the only way we could afford to buy a home :) How did you finance this deal?

If you can afford it, I'd look for something without HOAs such as a single family home or duplex.

Housing affordability isn't a problem.  

I had a nice property to live in that I could afford.

Hi Travis,If you make a big rent amount jump and they can't afford it they may leave, and you will have to pay to turn the unit and handle the vacancy time.If you raise the units to market rent and the unit interior finishes are not equal to the local market for the rent you are asking, they may leave, and you will have to pay to turn the unit and handle the vacancy time.Good Luck!

How do investors afford low to no money down, but can somehow make the high monthly payment work?

I know everyone is saying they would happily spend 40 hours finding a house before offer at rock bottom prices, I just can't afford to do that.

Rates will be in the high 4 to 5%-6% range (depending on buy downs) but this allows you to scale and affords other luxuries (entity vesting option, short seasoning, etc).