I don't think I'll cash flow here, so I ran my numbers only on the money I needed to pull out to have no cash in.Financed amount is $100,000The monthly mortgage payment came out to be $435.59 per monthAt a 5.125% rate on a 30 year loan, I calculated a Net Renal Income came out to be $1,140 per monthI split the difference of the range and used $1,200 for an estimated monthly rent and added in a 5% vacancy rate.Expenditures came out to be $613.73 per monthI used an 11% property management fee, which was $125.40.I used $120 for capital expenditure reservesI used $60 per month for maintenance reservesProperty taxes were $225 per monthInsurance was $83.33 per monthThis put me at a Net Operating Income of $526.27 ($1,140 rent - $613.73 expenditures). 

I think real estate has far more tangible benefits and can produce better wealth and income than stocks for most investors.

We both have good jobs and we're almost living on one income.

I have 2 and 1/2 years left on my Army contract and my goal is to be financially free through passive income by the time that contract ends.

I will add that while neither was purchased with the knowledge and full analysis of being an income producing property, the area is strong enough to support the homes as such, and we will even be able to have a (very) small cash flow within the first year. 

I know I could pay for work as it gets done, but I'd want all work completed within a 4-5 month time frame to get it rented out and start generating income to pay off the CCs.

remember the 100+ year old part... its a bit musty, but we can fix that)My goal is to hang up the corporate gig in 24 months (and yes, I said that 12 months ago)... now getting some more doors in the portfolio will actually allow that plan to unfold.

Being i invest in low income areas ( I live in a fine rural community) it has taught me a lot about poor people to be honest . why they are poor .. how they are poor and how they survive living in squalor .

Basically, I'm taking a leap of faith, using lessons learned in "Long-Distance Real Estate Investing" to hopefully build a passive income stream. 

In 2016 we used an accountant to do our taxes and ended up spending 10% of our income from the property.