Just beware of people who chase every disaster.

Am I on a wild goose chase for cash flow or is my agent right about having to take loses or break even for a few years?

Two birds, one stone

If you reduce rent $200 in exchange for some new sod and the tenant fails to do the work or does it poorly, you have to chase them down to get the $200 back and you have to likely spend more than $200 to fix their mess.

Did they pay or are you still chasing them.

The appropriate use of leveraged appreciation will allow you to build a larger portfolio over the long run that you can cash flow off of instead of chasing yield. 

I am chasing open listing and advertise them as well.

In addition to  Chases' meeting, there is a Real Estate Investors Association meeting the third Thursday of every month at Ingersoll Tap in Des Moines from 6-8 pm.

Let someone else chase that dog. 

Or you can just bird dog for others by talking to everyone who you come in contact with and see if something happens..