I still have his full deposit and have not refunded anything yet...so it’s a matter of deducting the $$ or eating the expense and giving him a full refundBased on my research poorly done tenant paint jobs don’t fall under “wear and tear”....... this isn’t scuffed or just worn out paint... this is a bad unauthorized job done by a tenant...

The market I live in now is pretty expensive the average cost of a half duplex is about 300000$ which makes it difficult to first, come up with the 20% down and second to be cash flow positive.Multifamily units do come on the market at around the 500k-650k range, small 2 apartments I can find for about 150K, both that will produce cash flow.   

I assume I can count all my mileage as expenses (driving from my current apartment to the house to do work, trips to home depot, etc.)?

But sometimes I am limited in what I can do in a flip due to constrained budgets or unexpected expenses that we didn't catch when we originally bought the house.3)Our first 6 flips that we did as soon as the 1st showing happened we were made a offer.

All I'm saying is to keep your expectations low, and think of every single expense and calculate with that.

Generally, insurance payouts reduce the basis in the property while the funds spent to make the repairs either increase the basis or might be able to be expensed all at once, depending on the nature of the repair/replacement and total funds spent per item.

Most CAP rates disclosed have bad expense calculations.Justin - LMK if you are looking for Vikings tickets. 

There are jobs, infrastructure, great location, many jobs for young professionals, of course HOA dues weigh heavily on the return on rental incomes plus other expenses that occur but otherwise, is downtown a good investment considering “location, location, location”?

I've already learned to live pretty frugally with expenses around $1400/mo, though I could tighten up a bit more again.

He even supplied me with a copy of the appraisal and his expenses from last year.