Giving them copies of forms for maintenance and how-to is a great idea.

@Brandon BrewartThe repairs and maintenance number we normally use in our underwriting is $500-$800 per unit per year. $250-$450 per unit per year for contract services and $250-$350 per unit per year for reserves.

Even though these are "low maintenance" yards, the houses still have a lot of costs associated with them

Maintenance and maintenance in between each guest 8.

@Dhwani Shah Hopefully this is an off market deal because if it was listed it could be sold before we could even finish this discussion online. hahahaIf negotiation can lower the asking price (a little), rents have potential to rise, and deferred maintenance is low it's a home run deal.

There are down payment assistance programs out there to lessen the burden for lower-income folks, but you will still end up needing some assets whether it be for closing costs or establishing a reserve for maintenance. 

Some of my clients use AirBnB to market and do bookings for their own properties and use PMs for cleaning, maintenance, etc.

Once my cash from cashout refi sits in a separate business account, can I use those funds to pay off maintenance HOA fees, property taxes, supplies, etc for the upkeep of my rental property?

I'm running numbers and have a question about SFR vs townhome maintenance costs.

Mainly to move toward your goal of geographical independance.You'll need a queue of contractors to handle maintenance needs.You'll need rent collection systems, as one mentioned Cozy.co.