I have been looking at duplexes lately they allow one to boost their yields provide relief during vacancies.  

Am I being too dramatic?

Listening to the Podcasts and attending the Webinars has boosted my confidence a bit though. 

With values and rents in Denver the last few years and now going up dramatically I did two cash out refi's on the Denver houses and paid off the AZ property. 

I would never buy a house based solely on the expectation that it will appreciate in value or that the rents will rise dramatically from year to year.

profits because of intense competition run 10 to 15% of Gross... so 300k house will NET  30 to 45k  all in with all cost associated with the build job.  20% of gross does happen as well on some of the higher priced properties were completion thins out dramatically. 

Make sure before you contacting the lender that offer you a mortgage buydown, you call all CU that has a special ARM mortgage rate.If you are planning owner occupy for a while and can refi with another owner occupied loan down the line, a 5/7/10 ARM at whichever one offers the lowest rate might be the way to go, and save the 2.1k for cosmetic repairs that will boost your rent prices.

Difference is, they are located in dramatically improving and appreciating areas of Indy-- 2  in Herron Morton, one in downtown Irvington area.

ARV values can dramatically increase the value of the property if your borrow buys distressed homes or just in the right area.You could borrow more money for your investments from the bank at a low interest rate, then lend at a much higher interest rate, now you are really leveraging as your borrowed money is free, you make a constant income on both borrowed and lended money, and you have created through more investments more passive income that you never really paid for and is yours to keep.After all of that maybe you can't borrow any more the traditional way because of the imposed limits.

Some choose to boost cashflow by deferring maintenance and running their rental properties into the ground.