Yeah I am definitely an advocate of self management personally.  

You will be filthy rich and you can retire from that one property and live on Easy Street.BUT YOU MAKE MORE THAN $259,200 when you raise the rents only $60 because you still need to add the your annual rent increase to the $259,200 so when you increase the rents by only $60 you really earn $259,200 in appreciation plus the $14,400 that you actually collect from the rent increase = $259,200 + $14,400 = $273,600 you earn by the end of the 12th month after you increased the rent.So, never look as properties that are less than 4 units and you can always find units that are cheaper than single family homes and you will always find properties with a positive cashflow.There is a calculator on BP that does calculations very close to the image below and the numbers on my image should blow your mind and send you into a whole new world.

PS  NO AGENT is suggesting higher purchase price to make a higher commission that is just not true and of course those that dont know the industry think that but really think about it  they get you to raise your price by 20k and even if they are making 3%  thats a whopping 600.00 bucks  RIGHT who is going to risk blowing a deal trying to get the buyer to come up so they can make a few hundred more dollars  LOL.. 

I have had tenants reach out and advocate for additional improvement essentially on their dime.A very common and true adage is that good/happy tenants are cheaper than the alternative.

You'll be amazed at how quickly you blow through tens of thousands of dollars when you start digging into a place.  

My take it that we had some rather vocal advocates for the 50% rule of thumb that took it beyond its logical extreme several years ago and we're still trying to unwind the lunacy that resulted.

It will spell out expectations the city has for selling the property, which will likely mirror the key points of Kuester Development’s proposal.To soften the blow from the potential loss of green space, city leaders began working on a plan several months ago to expand the Rotary Centennial Pavilion and create a new de facto park alongside it.City staff talked more about the plans to follow through on that, though no cost estimates have been presented yet.Critics of the plan to raze Center City Park spoke again during Tuesday’s meeting, though they have mostly come to terms with the likelihood of the apartment project moving ahead.Husband and wife Walter and Heather Burks said they would like Gastonia to establish some type of quota, dictating what percentage of downtown real estate must be reserved for green space in the future.If the city moves forward with developing a new park alongside the Rotary Pavilion, they want a binding restriction to be put in place that prevents it from being redeveloped in the future.

Also the post is blowing up but you should see my inbox hahaha .Thanks so much ! 

A deal from a retired landlord, I advocate those deals, surprised at his age he went 10 years.Keep in touch, closely, there is a chance that he could get into a position where he or his heirs will need cash and this contract could pose problems for him, so be prepaired to payoff early with a discount!

Most people blow the budget in the first month.Test and measure everything, then go back and make tweaks.