I am in the electrical and plumbing rough stages of this rehab. 

Vanguard tends to have several low-cost mutual fund/index fund options to gain exposures to domestic and international equities, fixed income, etc.

My investment portfolio hasn't really capitalized on that at all, it's been mostly in large cap domestic stocks.

Tom Asking price: 840,000Gross rents @ $485 avg: $162,960Vacancy @ 15%: $24,445Effective Gross Income: $138,515ExpensesProperty Management @ 10%: $13,851Property Taxes (2013): $9,412Insurance: $9,800Reserves @ 5%: $6,926Maintenance (plumbing, electrical, misc.): $11,000Association fees (Lawn, Trash, HOA, Grounds Insurance): $7,280Pest Control: $1,344Write Downs / Bad Debts: $2,820Total Expenses: $62,433Net Operating Income: $76,082Cap Rate: 9.1%

One retail tenant is in place, a 1 bedroom and a 2 bedroom apartment are ready to occupy with some plumbing work.

The goal should be to avoid neighborhoods where your plumbing or furnace is likely to be stolen.

Based on our experience with our fourplexes (built in the early 1970s), we are leaning toward buying properties that are newer (no more than about 30 years old), so we can have rentals with copper plumbing, ABS sewer drainlines, etc.

My challenge is to learn how to do this domestically and internationally.

I just finished reading Robert Shemin's Book "21 mistakes that real estate investors make" and in it, it had a section where he talked about writing out a contract for his tenants that makes them responsibile for paying for problems they cause like plumbing or things they broke.

I just knew the roof/ac/plumbing ‘seemed’ ok so that was probably the big ticket items.