Mow the lawn, pay the insurance, taxes and mortgage and reap the cash flow.The downside?

What cash is doing is buying artificial cash flow at a very high price.When analysing a investment property if it does not produce positive cash flow with a hypothetical 100% financing scenario it will never produce true positive cash flow due to the  high opportunity value of cash.

if you have time to spare in your schedule try offering lawn services such as mowing, leaf clean up, etc.

I would make sure to include some budget estimate for other things like:Marketing  (even Airbnb/VRBO fees, etc can fall into this)Mileage (you getting to and from)Maintenance/Service Vendors (lawn, hot tub, firewood, etc)I'm not an accountant so I'm sure others will chime in with better advice. 

I think that showing them these things helps them to better take care of the property, and helps to reduce potential damage if a pipe breaksI schedule showings 15 minutes apartI waste less time driving to and from the property, and between applicantsThey see other applicants arriving or leaving, so they know there are others interestedI ask them to call to confirm at a specific time a few hours before their appointmentI don't have as many no-shows (believe it or not, there are still no-shows even when they called 1/2 hour earlier to confirm)I print our standards on the application (600 min credit score, 3x rent as income, no smokers, we do background checks, etc)Allows applicants to decide if they want to weed themselves outI encourage applicants to take the application home to fill it outI offer to pick it up at their home so I can see how they liveIt requires them to follow up and return it if they're interested, so I don't have to screen through people who apply everywhere with the shotgun approachIf they insist on filling it out on the spot, I call to confirm a fact from their application before further screening to make sure they're still interestedWhen they turn in their application, I tell them I'll be conducting background checks and ask if they have any surprises I'll hear about that they want to discuss.They've often told me about things that didn't appear on the reportThey've asked for the application back, said they wouldn't qualify if I'm going to do a background checkAll of my units have pass-through knobs and deadboltsThe tenant has to actively lock the door behind themThey can't lock themselves out by pulling the door shut behind themselvesAll of my units have been changed over to a master key systemI have one key that unlocks every door that I own, including padlocksInstead of replacing the whole deadbolt, I can swap out the core in 30 secondsNo more softball of keysI have a lock core in a different color that I can put on vacant units that are being worked on so I can give contractors a keyI have a standard set of 4 colors that I paint every unitIt makes it feel more like home if the walls aren't stark whiteIt doesn't cost anything extra to paint rooms different colorsThey're all earth tone colors that go with any furnitureWhen tenants ask if they can paint their unit, I tell them yes, but here are my standard colorsI've eliminated carpet - I use tile, snap-together vinyl laminate, concrete, hardwood (if it's existing) or linoleum (rarely)Tenant can bring their own throw rugs if they wantReduces allergensEasier to cleanI don't use the old snap-together pressboard laminate that would curl up with moistureI pay contractors as soon as I receive an invoice and I know the work is done to my satisfactionContractors don't want to chase down customers any more than we want to chase down tenantsI get a quick response in an emergency because they know I'm going to pay right awayI never say "no" - I always give them an option of how to get it donePets are okay, but there's a monthly feeIf a pet is sneaked in, there's a fine plus the monthly feeIf a pet is deemed dangerous to the property or neighbors, they can get rid of the pet or move outIf you're caught smoking, there's a large cleanup feeIf they want to paint, I let them choose from my colorsIf they're going to be late, the late fees are clearly definedIf they want to move in another roommate, that person has to apply and be qualifiedIf they want to move because they need more space, they can move into one of my larger units without breaking the leaseIf they don't mow the lawn or clear the snow, we can arrange to have a service take care of it at an additional chargeI'm sure there are other things I've added to my toolbox over the years, but this is a good list to start. 

I recently bought a property near Atlanta doing lot of analytics and data related research myself (didn't just go with what some website told me that xyz is the hot market)  - Not sure if I am right or wrong about the market yet but the whole process of getting a tenant and PM was daunting especially since I'm out of state and BP folks have been wonderful and have learned a lot from the folks here - Thanks again to all of you)Back to this topic:  The idea of positive cash flow since I closed my first OOS investment property has stuck my mind and I have been following lot of topics on where to invest and sometimes artificial social proof that people say I have 10 units planning to by X more makes you believe that you have to buy more. 

@Ryan Turian, best I can tell duplexes are very difficult to make work as pure investment properties for 3 main reasons:There are only 2 units over which to spread the fixed cost (costs the same to mow the lawn at a duplex as it does a 4-plex)Duplexes are the most desirable to owner-occupiers (non-investors) so they tend to go for higher per-unit prices, but that doesn't necessarily translate into higher rents.Zoning laws mean duplexes are more likely to be in more desirable neighborhoods, increasing sales price and making them less likely to cashflow.For the analysis I've done, duplexes just don't make sense as a pure investment unless you get a smoking deal on the purchase price.I think focusing on 3 or 4-plexes, combined with BRRRR is a better way to go.With regards to your questions about CapEx, etc.: Yes, analyze the deal just like you weren't going to live there and see how the numbers work.

Lawns do not hold up well to dogs running around the fence. 

As far as gaining new clients...one way would be to talk to older gentlemen you see mowing lawns of multi family properties, that's how we got started.

My ads always have the rent, utilities the tenants pay, amenities, appliances, schools, security deposit, length of lease, type of heat (gas, electric, oil) central air, fireplaces, garages, off street parking, who cuts the lawn and shovels snow (hint its not me), credit and criminal checks, and neighborhood highlights like busline, and police station in the next block..