[jjav]

> Anecdotally, I know people who buy single family homes and rent them for profit. My 3 bed, 2 bath single-family home has a $3,000/monthly mortgage, I could easily rent it for more than $3,500 (closer to $4,000). Take out 10% for maintenance fees, and I net $200 a month.

In other words, you could not make a profit.

You need to consider all costs, not just mortgage. Taxes, insurance, maintenance, repairs, downtime (when it sits empty between renters).

If your mortgage is $3000 and you can only rent it for less than $4000, you can't make a profit.

I go through this math often while daydreaming of renting my house and retiring somewhere cheaper. There isn't any scenario I can come up with where it would actually be profitable.