It doesn't factor in all the work you need to do to manage the place.

I did want to note that the $800/mo is factoring in a newer, slightly higher mortgage after pulling cash out to fund a rehab to the property.

I live in the Pacific Northwest, I'm a bit priced out of the market, I'm attracted to buying a duplex or fourplex in some state in the Southwest or Southeast where I can better afford to buy, I would like to move there and live in one of the units, but it seems like an overwhelming project to decide where to buy it seems there are a lot of factors involved and it's difficult for me to come to a decision.

This will help you start to see how these criteria impact what your site can actually support, so when you actually pursue a project site and you get an engineer involved you aren't surprised by what he tells you can be designed for that property. 

But if it's just a house for you to live in, not an investment, then financially speaking you can't do better than living for free since the home you live in generally tends to be a wash or lose money when you factor in everything - maintenance, furnishing, repairs, etc. 

Risk acceptance and goals are the two main factors that are unique to you.

If you look at the analysts from the major investment firms, banks and hedge funds, many of them are discussing that a more realistic number for investors to expect in equities (stocks) for quite a long time will be closer to 7% and this is before the index fund expense ratio and inflation is factored in.

We tried an outsource screening service once, but were unsatisfied with their process - which was designed for Class A tenants.With 3,000 units, an outsource company would probably promise to modify their processes to whatever you wanted that was legal.

Same builder, same house, in same neighborhood for example could back to a busy main street in the entrance of the neighborhood, could face West where people prefer East facing, be the house that everyone drives by and lights shine in the front windows when you enter the neighborhood, could back to power lines in the back of the neighborhood, could be next to the community pool, could be on a corner with a bigger lot, and a host of other factors go into pricing....not just size.The 3 main sources that most sellers use for size are tax roll, appraiser, or builder's plan. 

Over the the episodes from the past two weeks, David from the BiggerPockets podcast has brought up that real estate will be harder and harder to from the "small guy" to get into each year due to factors like: inflation, hedge funds being hyperactive in the market, the lack of supply and high demand causing an increasingly competitive market, real estate being a more attractive investment for our current economic condition, etc...