Once the tenants in place, you have to worry about: late rent, non-payment of rent, eviction, lease violations like extra people or an unauthorized animal, tenant wants to break the lease, tenant abandons the property, tenant wants to renew the lease for another year, tenant wants to convert to a month-to-month lease, etc.It's an on-going process.

With that out the way, for a first time buyer not wanting to break the bank FHA is a great option as it is 3.5% down for 1-4 units.

Suddenly things started breaking loose and I rapidly started making progress (or at least if felt rapid).

Let me break the deal down a little. 

It is in their best interest to contact you when something breaks.

@Alex MonacoLike everyone else said, it depends on your goals, the location of your property, and your mindset.REI is not passive even with a PM, they still have to run through a lot of things by you, like when something costs more than $200 breaks.

In my area, I need to have monthly income of at least 0.8% of the purchase price in order to break even.

Hi Everyone,Just want to make sure I'm not breaking any rules.

I don’t plan on selling this house as it could Cashflow or break even as a virtual triplex if I move out, pretty hard to do for SFH in Long Beach area.

It’s not enough difference in money to make or break the deal anyway.