For example, if you can afford to pay $1000 a month on your mortgage, at 6% that would be a 170k house, at 4% that is a 210k house.  

The cost of the option would be an amount to cover you if they back down (example: $10,000 or 10% of the expected final price). 

Can you please share how you started or point to resouces that can be helpful to someone looking to create a cash flow from renting.For example, these questions come to mind:Where to look for plexes?

For example, if you have a possible rent of $1200, 1 month vacancy will have a yearly reserve $1200, or monthly reserve of $100.I use 8% reserve for my repair - using the same example above that means I reserve 8% x $1200 = $96 / month for repair estimate.

For example, are the windows old? 

Con: They reduce my monthly cash flow (6 - 10%)Manage it myself:Pro: My cash flow is increased (at expense of time)Pro: Online tools make it easier for me to remotely manageCon: Time-consuming, especially during the leasing processHow to find a good property manager / leasing agentI go online and get reviews and quotes (Yelp, Thumbtack)I ask for 3 referrals or reach out to those people (note: I also ask tenants, since I want to make sure my tenants are happy and treated well)I ask what online tools and processes they use (for example, if they don't have an option to collect rent online ... then they seem pretty inefficient to me) I ask about transparency -- will they provide me with the background check, lease agreements, etc.?

One example: I don't think the lawyer would have a no pet or no smoking policy in his lease forms where mine does...

Example companies that do this are KW and remax

I guess an example would be an early pay-off bonus?

I am a new investor and it is encouraging to hear examples such as yours.