Nonetheless, those stationed here can still achieve results that are better than renting.To answer your questions:1) I am not aware of any rules of thumb that would say "$X of cash flow is a good/bad balance when considering $X of appreciation."  

Many folks who buy cash then choose to do a cash out refinance afterwards to achieve that leverage.

I like partnering with other working professionals to achieve together. so perhaps I am biased ;)

Right now, it matters less about what your expected returns are going to be and much more about how you are actually going to achieve them.  

In GA there are areas specifically in Atlanta that can get you to achieve the 1% rule or pretty damn close to it.

I cant speak to Series 65, but agree with your assessment that it could be a lot of work for little (or no) benefit.Curious, why do you want to achieve accredited status? 

Real Estate is a great way to achieve all the above.Cheers

I definitely feel that we could achieve at least the 65% rate which would give us around $4,000 cash flow minus all of the expenses that you mentioned.

The most likely way to achieve this is to invest in commercial real estate with a significant value add, multifamily, self storage, industrial, mobile home park etc. but even then it has to be an exceptional deal to get that kind of return.

Is it actually achievable in houses over $100k?