Utah house prices are not what you would call cash flow friendly right now (They were 3/12 years ago when I arrived).  

You could also look at net cash flow per door after holding back money for maintenance and capex. 

According to my research, these are the only areas that can cash flow pretty reasonably well based on a budget under 400k.

Cash flow would be okay.What about the loss of appreciation ?  

Here are the key data points:Park info  Located in Alabama61 lots25 owner occupied homes18 park owned homes (14 currently rented; 4 currently being repaired and should be rented soon)18 vacant lotsAvg lot rent - $160 (unknown what the market rate is but it doesn't sound like there has been a rent increase in at least a year, maybe more)Avg POH rent - $400Expense ratio - seller claims 26% but I'm estimating 35% for the lots and 50% for the POH'sCity water - individually meteredSeptic - good condition (allegedly); a couple were pumped last year, none this year (no lagoon thank heavens)Seller claims gross income $130k, expenses $30k, and NOI $100kI calculated gross income of ~$135k, expenses of $60k (55% on POH and 35% on lot rentals), and NOI of $75kOther infoMom & pop seller, but park is listed with a brokerPark has been on the market for > 3 years (recent price reduction)Greater metro area stats look goodPopulation = 115kMedian home price = $105kUnemployment < 8%Household income > $40kHousing vacancy ~ 15%Closest Walmart is 7 miles awayFreeway is 1.5 miles awayNumbersMy valuation is coming out about $80k-$100k under the seller's asking priceWith conventional financing I'd be hoping for a purchase price of $500k, $100k down @ 6% over 20 years (not sure if this is plausible or not)Assuming that financing, I'm expecting net cash flow of $40k (after debt service)Upside potential is in raising rent and filling the 18 vacant lotsFollowing the same assumptions above, raising rent $50 (if the market supports it) would change NOI to ~$90k and net cash flow of just over $50kFilling the vacant lots could potentially increase gross rent up to somewhere between $150k-$200k, depending on what the appropriate occupancy rate is for the areaWithout verifying any of the above information (haven't offered anything yet so there's a lot of DD left to do), the deal seems to make sense. 

I am especially looking forward to some help in figuring out if there is anyway for us to invest in multi unit properties in our area or within an acceptable range that would provide a decent cash flow stream that might make putting up with the job for a while longer  worth it. 

The numbers look good:Location: Broadway HouseNumber of Units: 1Rent: $1,350.00 Square Feet: 1,666 Upfront Costs:Cost per Unit $95,000.00 Price: $80,000.00 Cost per Square Foot: $57.02 Cap Improvements & Repairs: $15,000.00Cash on Cash Return:19.84%Total: $95,000.00 Debt Coverage: [minimum 1.6] 1.78 20%Down: $19,000.00Capitalization Rate (ROI)9.05%Current Assessed Value: $29,666.00 Loan Amount: $76,000.00 Net Cash Flow per month: $314.08 Interest: 4.88%Net Cash Flow per month per unit: $314.08 Term (yrs): 30Total Rent/Month: $1,350 GROSS SCHEDULED RENTAL INCOME: $16,200.00 Less: Total Annual Debt Service: $(4,826.40)Less: Operating Expenses: $(6,470.63)Less: Vacancy and Credit Losses (7%): $(1,134.00)NET CASH FLOW: 3,769 NET OPERATING INCOME - (NOI): 8,595 INTEREST: 3,680 DEPRECIATION: 3,455 NET INCOME: 1,461 Property Insurance: $1,000.00 Property Management (10%): $1,620.00 Placement Fee(30%): $405.00 Real Estate Taxes (5.06179%) $1,501.63 Repairs and Maintenance (12%) $1,944.00 Services: Snow Removal: 720 Utilities: Electricity: N/A Gas and Oil: N/A Sewer and Water: $30.00/mo Other

For the first 2-3 months, I would only see a Cash Flow of $50ish (which sucks). 

@Brandon Phelps , by doing a 1031 you won't have a lot of time to identify properties, so If you want to run the business, you could get a package of properties that all together are valued at at least 1.2million, or buy one property at that price that will give you great cash flow.

Advantage: no payments made during loan term means you have more cash flow to put into your project.