Convince me why NOT to invest in Multis

[Andrew Bosco]

I wanna hear your reasoning. Why would I NOT want to invest in either small 2-4 unit multi family properties or larger 5+ unit properties. Let me hear it. 

[Marcus Auerbach]

I was half way around the world in Buenes Aires (for work), phsically and mentally exhausted from a tough week, when a tenant in my duplex texted me that the other tenant didn't cut the grass and the city sent a notice. That was the day when I decided to focus on singe family homes. 15 years and a lot of acquisitions later I am glad I did. And I also got over the idea that I'd have to "graduate" into something bigger, we just keep buying SFs.

SF are the most passive way to invest in residential rentals. They are self contained, tenant is responsible for everything, grass, snow, utilities etc. And there are no issues from people interacting with each other. The equity side works a bit better, even though cash flow is less. 

I think the worst sizes are 5-8 units, you deal with all the downsides of MF like commercial financing, fire inspections, parking lot management etc, but they are too small to reap most of the synergies.

Milwaukee has a lot of duplxes and for first time investors that's a great place to start and expand your income with cash flow. But they will also take slightly more effort to manage, turn over a bit more and you have more tenants to manage for the same revenue.