Once I became established in rentals I diversified to increase my profits and limit my risks.

I read in a recent article posted by @andrew Syrios titled 13 Proactive Ways to Increase Rent & Add Value to Your Rental Property.

I've been researching for about a year and have been trying to find the best way to get started, I recently spoke with an investor that has a couple vacant houses that he leaves just sitting because he doesn't want to increase his income into the next tax bracket.

What I could see making MF worthwhile is value add, where you increase total rents by a significant percent (due to improvements you make), thereby greatly increasing the value of the property.

Pay down debt, budget/cut expenses, increase income, and finally save/invest.

If you have an LLC, it and your partner can be the two members of this entity.Some examples for comparison...6 month 70% DealARV 400kPurchase+Rehab = 280kPrivate Lender @ 15%Private Lender brings 280k to cover purchase+rehabPrivate Lender brings 10k to cover acquisition costs + utilities, taxes, and insurance for 6 monthsAssuming 8% of ARV covers commissions and closing costs, you're left with 368k You owe your private lender 290k for purchase, rehab, acquisition costs, and holding costsYou owe your private lender 22k in interest (15% for 6 months = 290k * 0.075 = 21.75k)You're left with 56k (14% ARV)Hard Money + Partner where HML requires 20% down and charges 12% and 4 pointsHML brings 224k to cover 80% purchase+rehabPartner brings 56k to cover 20% purchase+rehabPartner brings 22k to cover 10% of 224k HML (12/4 @ 6 months = 10%)Partner brings 10k to cover acquisition costs + utilities, taxes, and insurance for 6 monthsIn total, Partner has brought 88k to the dealAssuming 8% of ARV covers commissions and closing costs, you're left with 368kYou owe your HML 224kYou owe your Partner 88kYou're left with 56k to split with your PartnerAssuming a 50/50 split, you both get 28kYour Partner makes 64% return (6 months for 28k for 88k)You make 7% ARV (28/400)Hard Money + Partner where HML requires 10% down and charges 10% and 2 pointsHML brings 252k to cover 90% purchase+rehabPartner brings 28k to cover 10% purchase+rehabPartner brings 18k to cover 7% of 252k HML (10/2 @ 6 months = 7%)Partner brings 10k to cover acquisition costs + utilities, taxes, and insurance for 6 monthsIn total, Partner has brought 56k to the dealAssuming 8% of ARV covers commissions and closing costs, you're left with 368kYou owe your HML 252kYou owe your Partner 56kYou're left with 60k to split with your PartnerAssuming a 50/50 split, you both get 30kYour Partner makes 107% return (6 months for 30k for 56k)You make 7.5% ARV (30/400)6 month 80% DealARV 400kPurchase+Rehab = 320k Private Lender @ 15% Private Lender brings 320k to cover purchase+rehab Private Lender brings 10k to cover acquisition costs + utilities, taxes, and insurance for 6 months Assuming 8% of ARV covers commissions and closing costs, you're left with 368k You owe your private lender 330k for purchase, rehab, acquisition costs, and holding costs You owe your private lender 25k in interest (15% for 6 months = 330k * 0.075 = 24.75k) You're left with 13k (3.25% ARV)Hard Money + Partner where HML requires 20% down and charges 12% and 4 pointsHML brings 256k to cover 80% purchase+rehabPartner brings 64k to cover 20% purchase+rehabPartner brings 26k to cover 10% of 256k HML (12/4 @ 6 months = 10%)Partner brings 10k to cover acquisition costs + utilities, taxes, and insurance for 6 monthsIn total, Partner has brought 100k to the dealAssuming 8% of ARV covers commissions and closing costs, you're left with 368kYou owe your HML 256kYou owe your Partner 100kYou're left with 12k to split with your PartnerAssuming a 50/50 split, you both get 6kYour Partner makes 12% return (6 months for 6k for 100k)You make 1.5% ARV (6/400)Hard Money + Partner where HML requires 10% down and charges 10% and 2 points HML brings 288k to cover 90% purchase+rehabPartner brings 32k to cover 10% purchase+rehabPartner brings 20k to cover 7% of 288k HML (10/2 @ 6 months = 7%)Partner brings 10k to cover acquisition costs + utilities, taxes, and insurance for 6 months In total, Partner has brought 62k to the dealAssuming 8% of ARV covers commissions and closing costs, you're left with 368k You owe your HML 288kYou owe your Partner 62kYou're left with 18k to split with your PartnerAssuming a 50/50 split, you both get 9kYour Partner makes 29% return (6 months for 9k for 62k)You make 2.25% ARV (9/400)TakeawaysThe 70% ARV rule is popular for a reason.  

@Daniel ShowmanReal estate is a very popular alternative investment holding in both IRAs and solo 401(k) plans. 

.$2,135.00MONTHLY INCOME$1,694.08MONTHLY EXPENSES$440.92MONTHLY CASHFLOW14.08%PRO FORMA CAP$9,853.40NOI$22,125.00TOTAL CASH NEEDED23.91%CASH ON CASH ROI13.59%PURCHASE CAP RATEExpensesIncome50% RuleTotal operating expenses:Mortgage expenses:Vacancy:$170.80Repairs:$213.50CapEx:$106.75Electricity:$50.00Water & Sewer:$162.00Insurance:$120.00Management:$213.50P&I:$380.20Property Taxes:$277.33$72,500PURCHASE PRICEPurchase Closing Costs$2,000.00Estimated Repairs$2,000.00Total Project Cost$76,500.00After Repair Value$70,000.00 Down Payment$18,125.00Loan Amount$54,375.00Loan Points$0.00Amortized Over30 yearsLoan Interest Rate7.500%Monthly P&I$380.20Total Cash Needed$22,125.00 Financial Info2.79%2% RULE $15,625.00TOTAL INITIAL EQUITY2.83GROSS RENT MULTIPLIER 2.16DEBT COVERAGE RATIOAnalysis Over Time3% /yearEXPENSE INCREASE 3% /yearINCOME INCREASE 2% /yearPROPERTY VALUE INCREASEYear 1Year 2Year 5Year 10Year 15Year 20Year 30Total Annual Income$25,620.00$26,388.60$28,835.54$33,428.29$38,752.55$44,924.83$60,375.21Total Annual ExpensesOperating ExpensesMortgage Payment$20,328.97$15,766.60$4,562.37$20,801.97$16,239.60$4,562.37$22,307.82$17,745.45$4,562.37$25,134.21$20,571.84$4,562.37$28,410.77$23,848.40$4,562.37$32,209.20$27,646.83$4,562.37$41,717.40$37,155.03$4,562.37Total Annual Cashflow$5,291.03$5,586.63$6,527.71$8,294.08$10,341.78$12,715.62$18,657.81Cash on Cash ROI23.91%25.25%29.50%37.49%46.74%57.47%84.33%Property Value$71,400.00$72,828.00$77,285.66$85,329.61$94,210.78$104,016.32$126,795.31Equity$17,526.25$19,494.41$25,837.43$38,134.84$53,197.53$71,986.64$126,795.31Loan Balance$53,873.75$53,333.59$51,448.23$47,194.77$41,013.25$32,029.67$0.00Total Profit if Sold *-$1,449.73$6,062.22$30,895.02$80,784.39$143,073.13$220,258.21$432,774.81Annualized Total Return-6.55%12.87%19.10%16.62%14.34%12.71%10.60%

If not, you may need to increase the septic to handle two family, per your county health dept codes.

However this can result in extra fees hence increasing money to the City.