It's crucial to have a financial buffer to handle unexpected expenses.Mortgage Rates:Shop around for the best mortgage rates and terms.

So even if you pick a state with stronger protections like WY or NV, the cause of action arose in the state where the tenant fell, so likely that the court where the accident happened would have jurisdiction.

Do you make a good ROI after putting away enough to cover management, vacancy, and unexpected expenses?  

You will also greatly reduce unexpected costs during the holding process.

There are cost risks everywhere else in the project, from unexpected/unknown issues, labour and material costs, to what you can sell it for.On-market deals, those that you find on the mls, typically will be at "fair market value." 

That means, "NOBODY REPRESENTS YOUR BEST INTEREST" when you use some insurance companies.As for purchasing insurance for my rental properties, I don't worry about what company is the best for paying when there is a disaster because in my past 55+ years in business I never filed one insurance claim and never had someone file against one of my insurance policies with the exception of auto accidents.

There is a large chance for unexpected things to happen and then it could wipe out your funds and turn you off to investing. 

Rent control is not fun, but it has some unexpected benefits - it shrinks available supply of housing, which drives up market-wide rent levels and means that WHEN a tenant flips you reap the benefits.

@Fan Bi, I'm pretty invested in Rhode Island and had some meh/not-great experiences investing in other markets in the mid-2000s so unless something unexpected happens (e.g., my mother decides to move to Texas, lol), I'll probably continue to focus on Rhode Island where I'm registered to do business, where I reside, where I have a lot of good contacts / contractors / business partners /etc.It's very easy for politicians to talk about big infrastructure projects, much more difficult to actually make them happen (ahem Big Dig ahem :).

Our real estate agent and her broker swears up and down we are priced correctly and says the market has “unexpectedly slowed to a halt and that things aren’t moving” any insight into this?!