But, when it comes down to it, they are all the same thing, just in different configurations of walls, but they share the similar components whether it's a toilet, a faucet, a roof, etc.The key thing is to have them in a good state to start with.

Capital Expenditure - You should keep in mind that if a major appliance or component of the house fails while you are holding it with a tenant in there, it is on you to address the issue.

We are both retired and mainly use the cash flow for international travel.  

Actually for a project ,a bit back I had an intern do that for me, Came up with 13 different rental markets, had enough stats to show why each one could and did work.

Yes I said for free, as slong as your are learning the business.I get at a lot of people calling, but instead I have been thinking about interns in my market.AlexPM me if I can ever answer  any of your questions

Do the internal records match the tax returns?

Proforma: 12% Cash on Cash Return.The Value add component is comes from expense reduction and rent increase.

-Owning a property management company-Owning a brokerage-Transitioning to commercial real estate-Having more fingers on the pulse of the real estate market-Having multiple income streams for business activitiesConsider that you are a successful REI and decide you want to own your own property management company and mitigate risk by managing internal and external properties...UH OH.

and totally ignore the most important components of our current economy...interest rates, debt super cycles and deleveraging.  

I haven't seen that yet another listings, although perhaps it's more common then I realize,  but it did lend a certain component of credibility that the work would be well done.