@Cyle Lublin I feel like I missed the boat with most of those areas (including indian village) for super good deals but maybe the new center area is one to be considered, I head that was getting some traction too. 

They're more numbers to do calculations in your head...Cap rate, I feel, is not too different... it has a lot more bearing than those other 2 rules, but a blogger at BP pointed out, a higher cap rate could simply mean that the previous owner didn't keep the property well maintained...I have $230 worth of real estate investing books in my shopping cart on Amazon.

What are the top 3 things that you know now that you didn't know heading into the transaction?

Do everything you can do make the house durable and tenant proof so the home doesn't deteriorate rapidly.

Ok, thanks for the heads up on this.  

In Grand Rapids, the going rate is 10%.Randy

If you secured another cash flowing property with the equity from the first, you'd be doubling down on that bet while hedging at the same time (cash flow).Either way you win, unless you can find a better return on your investment by selling and re-investing your tax free capital gains elsewhere, OR... the US economy could collapse due to the financial ineptitude/corruption taking place w/in the beltway and it could be an all out Zombie Apocalypse headed your way!

I'm not sure how Canadian appraisals work, but they could use the "income approach" as an easy method of showing how much more the place could be worth.Here is how I look at your numbers:You are spending $70,000 to renovatedAn extra $835/month (post 10% PM fee) is headed for your pocket12 x $835 = $10,020 per year10020/70000 = 14.3% cash on cash returnI would not invest in that because I like my money to be making 15% in RE investments, but if your minimum is 14.3% or lower, it looks like a good investment.

Thanks for the heads up on the rent.

Good luck, and keep your head up Sonia!