Any profits will be ate up by hiring out work to be done on the properties.

However, properties in Indiana are 50k a piece, which in cali they are 500k a piece(maybe)  So total purchase equals out.However a investor here can get started with 13-15k, instead of 100k there.You are right 100k, over 20 years, some of that gets ate by inflation.But keep in mind total investment was only 13kSay 20 percent of the 100k gets ate by inflation.

I did notice the HOA ate up the profits mighty quick.  

Sure, we get phone calls ate 3 in the morning because a kitchen light blew out, but that is very rare and even though I get a little angry it is still a nice feeling to know that my tenants have the ability to resolve problems when they get no satisfaction from managers.My wife and I carry separate cell phones for our tenants to call us.To manage our properties, our lease agreement is 24 pages that consists of all our rent payment and eviction policies.

I once ate lunch at the Flagstop Cafe in Boerne, TX.

The details and timelines ate important, include everything you know.

It pretty much ate up my social live with the full time job every spring.  

Rehabbing for the first time was extremely frustrating as I made many mistakes, simple rookie mistakes that ate up time....

We rented a bedroom in a house, packed our lunches every day, rarely ate out for dinner, and started a side business of wedding photography to use our skills and free time to bring in money outside of our 9-5 jobs.

I used to have your problem but the people at the bank saw me so much they finally told me to email them the info and they would call me when the account was all set on a tee and I just needed to deposit the check.