You have to consider where the pipes will go for both water supply and drain, where the shut-off valves will be located, whether a window or skylight is present or whether exhaust fan is needed, where the vent for the waste will go through the roof, whether you have electric wiring that can accept a GFCI (old house might only have two conductors on many circuits, lacking ground wire).

But with the lower rate, my payment dropped.

A sea of cash is calm waters.

So if 4 units would rent for $1,000 each... the rule says you should target about $200,000 in purchase price ($4,000 in rents).I have found with 25% down, I can drop the ratio to 1.5% and still achieve a 15% Cash on Cash return given 30 years @ 5% interest.The nicer parts of CA aren't going to cash flow well.

I'm buying at a significant discount compared to current rental value, and even if rents dropped 50%+, I could cover the payments without raiding my personal bank account.

My wife and I just got married last year, she has a house in Las Vegas worth about 140k which is 60k under water.

This is likely to reverse as we come to grips with our burgeoning debt and fed govt payrolls are forced to sharply drop (as well as all the leech industries like lobbying).Sorry to interject a macro comment into your analysis, but you could not only have a property with minimal/nonexistent cash flow, but appreciation could be the same or worse.

This cause water to leak out of the connections and causes water damage to the ceiling.The washer/dryer is in the hall upstairs on our units.We have also found tenants will use the cheap rubber hoses instead of the steel braided ones or not have a washer fitting inside the connection which causes a leak.Also if it is an older washer or connections at the wall the threading is older and even if you tighten it will leak.This is why we use Teflon tape when putting the steel lines on.It fills the imperfections of the threading and stops any leaks at the connection.Another area of leakage is at the discharge hose.If it is not properly clamped at the washer,has an old hose,or where the discharge hose goes into the drain line could cause a leak.

I see no reason to drop your price because of the actions of an appraiser.

The sprinkler system is a complete separate water system tied to the water main.