(technically was cashflowing $850 the first year, but not if you're living in it thus eating up a $1500/month gross a renter would give you.)(4-Refinance) You cash-out refi to get the 20k cash you invested back into your pocket. (5-Repeat) You've met the 12 month occupancy requirement from the VA and can move out to rent both sides out.

Service calls and small fixes add up and eat into an owners revenue.  

Obviously everyone wants it to sell, just if it doesn't monthly payments can eat at your bottom line.

Is it worth it to you to loose a long term tenant and have turnover costs because you didn't want to eat the cost of fixing a few issues now?

Do I just have to eat the cost?

P and I would eat that profit margin and leave nothing.

Of course our taxes eat up a chunk of cash flow.

If my goal was maximum throughput on a 1-2 month timetable, what I'm doing now would probably be a waste of time, since taking 2-3 weeks to systematize would eat too much of that time.

@John Jackson I appreciate every bit of information you are will to share, and help us newbies out, I will eat it up :) thank you so much Kathleen Wilcox. 

If the seller for example with the apartment building is making good cash flow then it doesn't makes sense to eat 250,000.