I'm looking to purchase rental property to buy & hold for positive cash flow.Unfortunately I'm located in New York City, where anything remotely close here is far out of my budget, and regardless, this is not a landlord friendly location.Specifically, I'm looking for MFHs (mostly duplexes) for around $40-$55k, which need minor, mostly cosmetic work, and can be rented for around $500-$700 per side.  

I bought a smoky-smelling foreclosure that needed cosmetic work.

lol...good point @Todd DexheimerHave you heard the phrase "your data will tell you anything you want if you torture it long enough"...95% of our local "MF market" is made up of transactions less than 5-units...the price appreciation grew exponentially in the lower asset classes...so, we are seeing 4-unit properties that traded 3-years ago at $75k trade at $250k today...cosmetic renovations or no renovations. 

The time I’ll be living there I plan on upgrading minor cosmetics to increase the rent roll.

It would need cosmetic upgrades. 

If you have no experience, finding a source of funding that will cover 100% of the purchase and reno costs is like finding a unicorn . . not going to happen and I would question anyone that says you can buy the property with nothing out of pocket (please feel free prove me wrong).There are good deals out there and there are even some listed on MLS if you can look past cosmetics and the numbers work . . . we have gotten several that were on the market and in some cases for a while. 

In Maryland, I've done cosmetic renovations for $20/sf, I've built new constructxion for $90/sf and I've done everything in between.  

I strongly recommend finding a cosmetic project if you haven't done any projects in the past.

Account ClosedWhat has worked for me so far is to find mis managed properties and do the following:- Light cosmetic rehab- Landscaping clean up- Increase rents

I did a lot of the cosmetics before I moved in (removal of carpet, refinish wood floor), paint walls and ceiling.