I wrote this summary for another thread for a purchase of a Single Family Home for rental. Not sure how much will it change for Multi-Family. Actually, I will be interested in know if anyone has an idea of how to analyze a multi-unit property for investment purposes.
If you are buying to rent, you should be looking at numbers very carefully. Make sure you have enough margin. If possible, buy at profit, which is kind of hard, if you want to sell at profit someday. What I am trying to say do not just buy at loss in a hope that you will make a profit someday. It is called speculation.
As a guideline, when analyzing a property, keep these yearly cost estimates in mind.
1 month rent for Property Management
The above can be called rental OPEX.
Your property should come out favorable on this equation.
This is true for any rental:
+ Rents collected
- rental OPEX
- rental mortgage (P+I)
= net rental income or loss
The cash left after paying OPEX should be 1.25 times the payments to amortize loan (aka DSCR).
I do not know if any realistic rental property search will satisfy all of the above condition assuming you want to keep down payment low.
After you have made sure the numbers work in your favor, look for nice neighborhood. Good neighborhood will attract quality tenants. Quality tenants will keep your home in good condition and pay rents on time.
Cross posting from my post in other thread