It barely takes effort to add your name and email address to their list when they send out available properties.I assume you have decided on a particular niche for your investments - either by price, zip code, neighborhood, school district, etc.

With a $1M portfolio ... you'd lose ~$5k per year in income.For illustrative purposes only, I'm assuming 2% house in Class C area appreciates 3% and a 1.5% house in Class B area appreciates 4%.Rick

You have a foundation issue caused by settlement or erosion or both.I assume everything else is cockeyed?

(I assumed around 4% interest.)The county appraised the house on 1 Jan 2013 at $25,000.I'm not aware of repairs being need at this point.

I assume you don't have a handyman you can trust.

Assuming you must go electric, if the area is not too cold, you can install a heat pump, which is far more efficient than room heaters.

The first step is to calculate the first property's return on investment (assuming you'll pay yourself market rent).

However, for my first landlord/tenant adventure, I would assume a nearby property would result in quicker response as I iron out all my learning experiences, would you agree?

Assuming the property cash flowed and there was appreciation that took place, you could possibly make this happen.

By the end of the year we will have an attractive, fully remodeled 5-plex in a decent area close to the University, shops, hospital, etc..Preliminary calculating the commercial value as a function of the NOI and assuming a 10 cap we would seem to have gained a decent amount of equity - if we do not occupy the 2BR.