Yeah, a lot of condos/townhomes have HOA fees that eat into profit.  

Would I "eat the cost" most of the time?

People also always talk about what if you had to travel to visit your property OOS it'd eat of profit... except you're paying a PM so why you traveling often.

I went out to eat the other night at Stone Creek Bistro up near Lake Arrowhead.

My $.02Move from CA, get on a budget, buy a beater, stop eating out, increase your skill set in the marketplace $$.

Sell my home, get rid of tenants, live in rental for two years and repair it, sell.Rent to my daughter( I have seen this scenario get ugly), get them to help me repair it...possibly sell to them.1031 it to a nicer house that I might retire to in the future, rent to my daughter until I retire.Sell the rental as is, eat the taxes.Fix the property (20-30K), raise the rent ( probably lose current tenants), cash flow would remain about the same.Fix and update everything (30-50K) sell, eat taxes, some increase in end profit depending on how much work I do.

Eventually you could take that and do whatever you want for a primary home, but at some point you could potentially cover your rental living expenses with the cash flow so you'd be living with no housing payment.The only reason I say all of that, other than I'm a huge fan of leveraging, is to say it sounds like you'd be saving up all that money to only then put it all into a primary home which will basically eat up all of that income.

Basic service may include mowing, weed eating, edging, blowing off hard surfaces, and maybe roundup (weed control) application.  

It takes money to get going.Taking the pre-licensing course, exam fees, license fees, MLS fees, NAR fees (if you choose to join), desk fees (if your agency has them), E&O insurance, CRM monthly fees - and that's just the start.Marketing eats a ton of cash, especially in your first years. 

@Chris Purcell  we are talking different things I am not talking about garden variety CC fraud.. of course you can dispute those.. what I am talking about is your e mail getting intercepted between you and your title company or closing attorney a few digits altered and you wire 100k to the wrong account.. that money is GONE and GONE forever and your SOL. why the title companies and lawyer closers are so adamant about it is its happened to them .. and they have to cover.your the seller you have proceeds title company says they wired it does not show up in your account.. well they have to eat it and cover it..