Gut rehab for an SFR in northwest Indiana would be around that new plumbing, electric, hvac and roof.

You might have noticed that people that have been successful with rental units in  houses have to own about 20 or 30 of them just to cover their monthly bills, then they might get some of the profit when they own 30 or 40 all at different addresses.With apartment complexes you might just have one address where you have many units. 

Curious, under what basis is the insurance co. trying to put this on you.....the cause of the suit is not a covered action?

When the garbage disposal crunches through twice as much stuff, it dies faster.The floor coverings wears down twice as fast.

If the property needs tons of work or tenants are sporadic in payments you could actually be paying out money monthly and be saddled with debt.The rate and payment given are great. 12% down is just enough to maybe cover foreclosure costs if you do not pay the note.

Eliminate any areas with heavy snowfall, (burst pipes and roof damage).3. 

You will need to do a lot of networking to get "the same level of support" as a realtor gets.Regardless of which path you choose to pursue, you will spend money out of pocket (if you don't have a part time job) to cover the costs of doing business.

As of now I'm working with my junior realtor (close friend & new to the industry) to source a property where the rent income will be able to cover debt service and operating expenses all while living in one of the units (therefore, removing the rental income of that unit from the equation).

The deal he's offering is that I cover the entire cost of the 5% down deposit and renovation cost (closing, miscellaneous, etc.) and in return, we each pull 12k annually.

As long as the rent still covers the payments you should be able to leverage the money to either buy an additional rental unit (using that units future rent to help qualify) OR use it as a down payment for either an equity partner or hard money lender for a fix and flip in your area.