triumph7 wrote:racerdave600 wrote: That brings me to things that can and will go wrong, such as the HVAC system, the roof, fencing if it has it, appliances, plumbing, etc., etc. It only takes one major item to set you back a few years in rent profit.That's one of the reasons why I tell people that you can't make money with single family houses. Most are run at a break even or only a few dollars profit so when the furnace goes out you're cooked for a long time. After having a couple houses that we were supposed to profit in the long run (i.e. owning a property that somebody else paid for) I have a 15 unit building that profits over $3K/month with very little work, it was a battle to get there but now, unless I have a unit for rent, I only get a handful of calls each month.
This is exactly why my dad always stuck with multi unit properties. He had a 100 unit complex which was a struggle to get cranked up and running but once it was going it returned a decent income each month, he sold it ~10 years ago and used the proceeds to pay off some of his other properties and buy another smaller complex. He owned exactly one single family house and the only reason he did was he hired his own maintenance and paint etc guy who worked for him for about 15 years, part of this fellow's pay was he lived in the house rent free. That way Dad had a fixed cost each month.
The guy died about six months before my dad did (Larry was a good old cuss 
) and the house sat vacant. There's a mortgage, not a big one, but it's still the only property we have that never comes out ahead at the end of the month.
