If you have experience doing these renovations then maybe you need not heed this, but if this is your first time doing renovations this could quickly become a multi-year project and turn your duplex into an alligator property (eating up all of your time and money).

IE are you in a area with a lot of snow and such.or deep south with wind hail and bad soil.. or in an area were crime rates are above the normal or better areas of west coast.. all of these things will eat into cash flow if your buying and holding.

Luckily we paid our manager nothing but we still had to eat all the mortgage payments and maintenance without any rental income for 6 months. 

You assigning it to a broker and then the broker goes out and assigns it again will eat up a lot of your spread.

Andrew Johnson That totally make sense...although paying for property management would eat into my profits, I think it would overall be worth it.

I personally don't like leasing machines as the split can eat up any potential profit and sometimes doesn't even cover the added water/sewer bill.

There is a $3 transaction fee, which you can either eat the cost, share the cost with the tenant, or have the tenant cover the cost.  

I would ask them to have the notary eat the cost or have the escrow eat it if they provided the notary.

Kinda like the story where the one little animal goes through all the trouble to make a feast and no one helps him, but they all wanna come eat...well we will still let them come to the feast because we love them!    

Constant turnovers, evictions & renovation costs will eat away at your profit.