@Brian GibbonsOmid, you've had several questions, you need to find an inexpensive course on options and read up to be current.A disguised sale from an option arrangement means, that if the agreement does not meet the requirements of a true installment sale, the gain on the sale is taxable!

My hubby and i have decided to invest our savings into real estate! I will property manage! I researched and found a property.
We made an offer that was accepted! Fun so far! 145,000 to be financed 30 yrs conventiona...

Transactional funding costs have decreased over the past few years and are less than 2%.

So when you sell a duplex or other property with apparent segregation, you will get the Capital Gains Tax Exemption on half the property, while the capital gains on the other half will be added to your taxable income.So assuming a 650k sales price, you get a total capital gain of $265k, half of which (132.5k) will be exempt because you qualify for both the ownership and use clauses for half the property.  

This has really decreased vacancies.

The response rate has decreased compared to the yellow letters, but the callers that call from my postcards are solid leads actually looking to sell a property.

You can do that without affecting their taxable income.

In general I think people should leverage more earlier in their investing career and decrease their leverage ratio as they age.  

Your numbers are going to be higher because your downpayment didn't artificially decrease the numbers.We don't meet any of the "rules" and have done very well. 

Finding four tenants will cost $1500 - $3000 if you hire a property manager (in my area it would).I can't say why an owner wouldn't decrease the cost a little after 4 months.