In fact, I can even go negative cash flow if I want without affecting my life style.Once I know what I can afford in terms of cash flow, I can then add another metric in to my decision criteria.Now I can look at Appreciation, both Rent and Price.Let's go back to the 3 scenarios, Property A, B and C.Property A is NYC, a highly rent appreciation city.

This is in a good area of town, a "B" neighborhood, with shopping, restaurants, schools, and parks nearby.  

For the scope of this thread, I'm not sure I'd try and develop a B-class commercial property in a rural area.  

=)Ottawa is actually a really great place for rentals, our rental market is in need and properties are fairly inexpensive compared to other suburban areas, we also have rentals in Marseilles, which is imo another great place to look.One recommendation I have is join up some groups like Ottawa/Marseilles/Lasalle Co for sale or rent on facebook and you will see a lot of people posting rentals and people looking for rentals, I think it's a good starting point if you're unfamiliar with the market to see what people want and what there's the need for as well as comps and prices.Every landlord I know gets tons of inquiries with minimal advertising in just a few days and so far our experience has been the same and actually, we've had some really amazing tenants (but we do tend toward A/B type properties so that may be why).However, if you're not familiar with the area, I do think there's some quirks in this market, so I do recommend getting on those sites and getting a good idea what people are looking for before buying anything.

Yeah, at my budget, I'm not going to be able to get A/B neighborhoods with solid cashflow.

I just wanted to ask some investors there thoughts on the process. our plans after this would be to save and buy another then after school use my VA loan once I have a job as an engineer and use the to qualify for a duplex in a B class area we can raise kids in.  

This is looking like a great deal if I could get it for an ideal price (it has been on the market for over 2 mos and I just received word that the condition is considered "poor" as there haven't been any upgrades in a decade and it's looking to be in a B-/C area...so I'm hoping to knock the price down significantly...any advice on this would be appreciated as well!).

Has anyone figured out why after 3-4 months tenant a, b and c has HVAC filters that look 100 years old and completely clogged but tenant d’s filter looks brand new?  

Don't go with the cheapest.Highest rental income = make sure it is fully occupied at all times or as high as possible.better finishes normally equal higher rent but you also want to be smart, figure out what the market is and adapt your property to it.If your property is in a B class neighborhood, get B class finishes.

I've read a summary of AB 1482, the 2019 California Tenant Protection Act, but just had a hypothetical question I wanted to ask to make sure I'm understanding it.Say I was buying a condo, newer construction (~2017), which had a "grandfathered" tenant who was paying $1000/mo in rent.