Do you leave security bars on widows and doors on your flips.

My goal is to leave my kids 20 properties each. 5 x 20=100.

looks good to me , it's a rental , if everything works I would leave it ;)

That would leave me at $133/month.

I know that it will take some time but I am hoping that I can create a successful business in the next 4 years that will allow me to leave my job and fund my daughter's college education as well

Leaving their remains scattered in our wake does nothing to help us.

Should I put in the time and/or money to paint the entire unit a neutral color, or should I leave it as is and allow the tenant to paint if they wish?

Can I pretend that I am moving into that unit and ask him to leave?

Good post, I agree with you, i do believe a correction is coming, but with investors now having to put more skin in the game and not being able to drive up prices like they did years ago with no money down products and loose lending requirements, i dont think it will happen this year maybe 2 or 3 years down the road and that also depends on what region you are talking about, we didnt really feel the crash out here and we didnt experience the double digit appreciation either , i wasnt thinking of selling when i refinanced, a few months after i did it, my tenant moved out so that got me to thinking about changing my goals, i was in a 6.15 30year loan still paying pmi, so the fixed 15yr @ 4.375 was a better deal for me, and yes counting on appreciation is not good because its not guaranteed, i may end up keeping it because I like the idea of having it paid for in 15 years.  

Unchecked emotions leave us vulnerable to potential manipulation.