Electric baseboard heaters are cheap and easy to maintain/replace.Mike

I'm witnessing buyers over paying for homes they cannot afford; qualifying for a loan is not as difficult.In addition, I see many "investors" overpaying for multi-units that, even with a significant down payment, they'll have a challenge maintaining.

Concentrate on building your business with that goal in mind, HMLs, investor splits, highly leveraged partnerships are the most costly way to begin, a few deals might be necessary, but get away from that as soon as possible.

So, I see you are an author of a real estate book and concentrate on, what appears to be, little cash in a deal, so what do you do and how do you do it?

You want to keep in mind though that capital expenditures will happen over time and a reserve should be maintained for the eventuality.

With the information given, i'd take the smaller house as the return is better and i'd assume the cost to maintain will be lower.

Pools are great for your primary residence, however for a rental property it is a huge expense to maintain and repair.

I hear they are more expensive to maintain and break more often but no clue if that is true or not.Kelly

Maybe people who have stability want to maintain that.

Although I concentrate mostly in AZ, NV, and CA, I will look for properties anywhere buyers I have are interested in.