I'd try it for a season and see how well your assumptions hold! 

Again, not knowing anything but making the above assumptions. 

I understand you bought it for 49K VA, so my assumption is you owe about 35K on the loan. 

If assumptions are changed and leverage means non GSE debt, my answer changes. 

I'd love to chat with some people currently in the BRRRR game around here to see if my initial assumptions are in line or if I am way off.

There are of course a lot of assumption here that may not bear out in reality but in general this is the analytical model we have used with good effect in the past to evaluate these negative cash scenarios

I know this is not always the case but this is an assumption.

OK, that is an unsupported assumption on my part, but her story gets fishier every time you provide more details.  

But as I think more and more about it, I feel like I may be limiting myself to my options and opportunities because I’ve always had this assumption with myself that I am going to stay in Salt Lake City indefinitely.I also travel quite a bit for work (when it’s not a pandemic), so my living situation has mostly acted as a base/storage unit for the past few years.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the dark blue boxes are the fields that require inputs to spit out the final numbers we care about.Here are the assumptions we make:Purchase Price: $485,000Improvements: $3,000Interest Rate: 2.6%Downpayment: 3.5% (this is the downpayment for an FHA loan)Vacancy Rate: 3% (usually 5-10% but this was an area of Boston that is almost guaranteed to always be occupied) Total Rent: $3,000 (this isn't an assumption - this is what it's currently getting per month)Here are the related expenses:Taxes: $2,500Insurance: $1,700Maintenance and Repairs: $1,000CapEx (Reserves): $270/moPrivate Mortgage Insurance (PMI): $500/moNote for PMI, this is only paid until you have 20% of equity in the home.