I am excited to make this change in my life.

I would not jump to the conclusion that simply because a 25-year old report found elevated vapors means the property today poses a risk to human health and should not be purchased.

I did research this topic and was inclined more on software-based (mainly due to price) but would like to get real-life opinion of BP community.The main pros i see having an on-prem property manager are:1) Ease of rent collection and managing tenants2) Auto schedule of any maintenance and follow-upsThe con i see is the monthly payment (8-10% to property manager vs <$90/unit using software)The key points I am trying to find are:1) Does the above pros on having on-prem property manager same with software-based?

I'm planning on raising the rent on both houses next year when the leases are up for renewal but this would be the first time in 2 or 3 years for each.The cost of life always goes up.

But the draw back is its carpet, and the short life span and eventual replacement, if its to be held as a long term rental.

Osman:I think you are making a couple of mistakes here that is making your life harder.First, LoopNet is an unlikely place to find good deals. 

not only have I not heard of somebody checking (for a conventional or FHA loan anyway), your plans/life can always change. 

hi everyone, this is my first time posting to bigger pocketsi am an airline pilot in my mid 30s and looking to create a new life for my wife and myself and our baby on the way. i have dove deep on BP and been scouring the bookstore and the podcasts and learning as much as i can about investing in real estate. we currently live in a 1b/1ba home we own, and no longer owe any debt. i bought it for $120k in 2015 with 2br/1ba, met my wife the next year, she moved in and we gutted it and rehabbed it ourselves (aside from some structural flooring stuff and the final electric and water connections) and blew the tiny bathroom out into the adjacent bedroom, making the house a 1br/1ba. we did all the framing and flooring, paint and drywall and fixtures ourselves. we plan to add an additional bedroom or two, and possibly another bathroom, in the unfinished attic at some point. i was granted a HELOC for $120,000 with my local bank after it got reappraised a month ago at $163,000. i think we spent around $25,000 on the rehab so i'm feeling pretty darn happy about the situation. obviously the covid exodus from boston and new york have pumped real estate prices but we dont really plan on selling any time soon; but possibly renting it out if i get relocated for work.i am trying to find my first investment deal, and my wife and i have narrowed down our plan to aim for a rental with cosmetic rehab and solid tenant base. we thought about house hacking. i'm not sure of where i'll be sent next with work, but i will be sent somewhere else soon. our local market (vermont) is not very landlord friendly so we are looking at long distance, self-sufficient rental as our first investment. i am leaning toward student rentals, and after searching and comparing prices and stuff we have chosen to focus on a few different college town markets in the TN, KY, WV region. i have found a property i think might fit. its a triplex with three 1br/1ba units and off street parking, split utilities, w/d in each unit, located a half block from campus. it seems in decent shape, its been on the market over 200 days, and is listed at $190,000 in a market i believe i can ask at least $750 per unit for rent, which would bring my cash flow to near $1000/mo if i used the calculator correctly.what next??

Taking on a smaller project at first is likely where i will go as i look to balance life/work. 

I understand that the loan origination fees are amortized over the life of the loan, so if you get a hard money loan and paid $3000 in origination fees, you would create an amortized asset with a 1 year life span, because its a 12 month loan (thus depreciating all that hard money origination fees in the year the loan was created)?