So far, my expenses include the following:- Property Taxes: 1.25% of purchase price- Rental Insurance: 0.5% of purchase price- Management Fees: 10% of gross rent- Vacancy Rate: 10% of gross rent- Repairs & Capex: 10% of gross rent- Utilities: (garbage, sewer, water): 10% of gross rent- Mortgage: 30 year with 20% down paymentWith these assumption, I get negative cash flow in my area.  

What I though was initially a negative turned out to be a positive.Let's here your stories of when you thought of something as being a negative and it actually turned into a positive.

I am sure Jay and I on on the same page here but there will be many that gurus and others who dispute that.

The one negative with the house that I can control is the size of the bathroom and there are only 2 bedrooms.

But if I only have 1 scheduled I will call or have them call me before I'll go.

OTOH, if they're building undesirable apartment buildings, or something that's going to create a lot of traffic and congestion it may have a negative effect.You should look into 1031 exchanges.  

However when I evaluate a property or a deal I don't care what the market says it is worth, I only care what it is worth to me!

We would live there for maybe 5 years and continue to repeat the process.Has anyone used this strategy and have any experiences (positive or negative) they can share?

I only invest in Milwaukee.

We don't want to have to produce funds up front, hence negating the advantage of the swap.