Any time a tenant complains, I just tell them to shop around for something comparable to see what prices are like and to consider the cost of moving.

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??

I imagine simply based on how they made their business and money, there is an element of high risk / high reward.

Then there is quality ofcourse, for any given element there is basic material with a handyman's installation, then there are various upgrades with a tradesman's installation, and finally there are premium materials with a true craftsman's installation.It all depends are you flipping a $40k home, $400k home or $4 million home.

When comparing how much a house might sell for in a neighborhood after rehab, do I compare it to houses in that zip code, or do I compare it to the houses immediately surrounding it?

The only thing I would say is how does it compare to a deal not driven by your friend... just to vet the quality of the deal. 

In regards to collecting rent I would just have them continue sending checks (I imagine this is what they were doing); it really does not take much time to deposit a check compared to the training required to teach a possibly technology illiterate person how to; create accounts, link accounts and pay rent.

When I spoke with my "go to" broker, he warned my that it may be difficult to find a lender for an investment property because of the new FHFA guidelines.He did find a lender, but the interest rate on the 30 year note is 4% with nearly $1,000 in additional closing fees compared to what I usually pay. 

Other numbers: comparable rent (~1000 per month), total monthly cost of condo (~1250 per month), I make around $3083 per month pre-tax.I tried the NYT Buy-vs-Rent but it doesn't include keeping the property after I buy.

@Brett Schmidt normally I would recommend 30 but your return will be much higher with the 85% LTV loan most likely compared to 75%.