Whether your objective is to generate rental income, create equity, or both, having well-defined goals can help you make informed decisions.Analyse your income, savings, and possible down payment in relation to your present financial status.

AirDNA says 88% occupancy past 12 months, reviews are great and seller is self reporting income that looks really good. 

Duplexes are not passive income, and one major repair will eat your entire year's cashflow. 

Is the fee charged on actual rental income, or projected?

Virtually every property would have been running a negative for years with no guarantee that it would become cashflow positive. 

The property may not cash flow as a long term rental, but it may does as a short term rental or a mid term rental, maybe instead of finding a move-in ready home you could find a fixer upper for a lower price, increase the value of it and increase the rental income...

Profit comes from the property's appreciation after improvements.Buy & Hold: Acquire properties for rental income and long-term appreciation.

This approach allows us to analyze the market dynamics, particularly in terms of pricing, providing us the flexibility to adjust rates optimally to balance both occupancy and income as the property enters the market.

The ones that have stayed on the market that I'm interested in come with some skepticism as to why they're on the market for so long.

Both products are no income and no doc .