The real cash drain hides in your operating expenses (OpEx): repairs and maintenance, reserves, utilities, pest control, legal fees, property management, HOA dues, and unexpected turns like a broken HVAC or a non-paying tenant.Ignoring these costs is one of the main reasons rookies bleed cash after their first deal.

Clustered vacancies tests survival.Another thing is to set a hard rule that you’ll never drop standards just to stop the bleeding.

If the numbers don’t pencil out, I pivot to a rental or creative financing exit—never just ride it out and bleed holding costs.

My quick take: don’t buy just for a rate if the deal bleeds.

It's going to leave you bleeding cash.

.: Quote from @Miguel Alvarez: I’ve got a 2-unit in San Diego that’s bleeding cash:$10K/month all-in expenses (mortgage + MI + other costs)$7.5K/month in rent incomeLocked at 5.5% interestCan’t raise rents for another year, and local rents are trending downEven with future rent bumps, I’m years away from breaking even.Possible moves I’ve thought about: - Short-term rentals- Expanding the units (lot space available), or adding a second story (to create more units). 

I believe virtually every market bleeds cash at 100% LTV.So your investment does not produce return via cash flow and historically it has not produced eingnificant return from appreciation.  

FEMA bleeds $ like crazy.

.💼 Equity growth/appreciation-focused deals may bleed cash early on but can 10x your net worth over time if managed well.My question to the community:How do YOU decide between short-term cash flow and long-term wealth plays?

However, I feel like I am just bleeding money.