say you find a solid property in a low cost market for $200K and you buy it.between down payment, closing costs, rent ready / spruce up costs, and lease-up costs, you're probably going to need at least 50-65K in cash. 

If you do have to move because of a job, you would be safest (in my opinion, i am not giving legal advice or financial advice), i would sell that property to ensure that you did not just purchase with the goal of moving out early and taking advantage of lower rates and lower down payments for purchasing your home as a primary residence. 

NONE of the money raised from the auction of a 2nd goes toward the payment of the 1st (that is why they call it "subject to the first")4.

I guess my question is this: is the very low cash flow (due to my low down-payment and high interest) going to improve?

Perhaps we "buy" the house from them for the $328K balance to satisfy the lender and don't need a large down payment and then have a separate contract with them to pay $x per month until we've paid the full $172K amount.

The total cost for this monthly for me is $1.00 fee for online payment for Sevier County, TN and the .73 cent stamp for Blount County, TN.

I have a W-2 Job, capital saved up for a down payment (or two), and a buy box based on my affordability.

Don't accept ANY partial payments.

We saw huge appreciation in the 2018-2022 inflation run up, but that has significantly slowed these days in my opinion.From a rental perspective your monthly income per unit after all expenses with a typical 20% down payment is likely $100-300 when you find a property that will cash flow.

Unlike the Bay Area, at least from my experience in Sacramento, i don't think the difference in down-payment from a duplex and tri-plex is that significant.