I have no business in RE, but when I found a home in AZ that was in the right area and for the right price, I decided to buy it and rent it out till I retire, or sell it since the market was a buzz at the time.

Here are the details.
Asking was 975K
Purchased for 850K
Previous owner was allowed to live there for 3 months at 3K each month after he agreed to fix up 20K worth of repairs and improvements. He was a nice guy and I wouldn't let 9k let the deal slip away from me

I put in $0 in improvements as the home is only 4 years old and amazing in every way I could ever want.
But I did invest 170K plus CC and own 20%

I ended up renting it out for $4600 to an exec at a large corp in the area with a 3 year lease (great for me as I may want to move there in 7-10 years) , my PITI payment is around $3750.

So after some other minor expenses, I'm cash positive but my ROI will be low and slow and instead of appreciation being icing on the cake, it's really the cake, period.

What should I do different if buying a SFH again, Ive learned about the 2%, 50% and 70% rule too late, but it doesn't change how much I love the house which I will eventually move into.

FWIW, my income is such that 1K or so in cash flow a month is negligible and but 3K-8K more per month when I retire will be great. I just to make sure I set myself up for that.

Thanks everyone!