You need to budget for management (even if you plan to manage it yourself, because one day you may not want to manage it any more), maintenance/repairs, vacancy, capital expenses, leasing fees, and legal fees/tax prep.

If after budgeting for all that stuff (Bigger Pockets has a million free calculators you can use to estimate these expenses) you will still return a satisfactory amount on the capital you have to put forward to acquire the property, then you might have a decent deal.

In my limited experience (I own/have owned four rentals in the past 8 years) deals that produce cash flow after factoring in the above are scarce in Utah and most other markets right now, unless you are able to purchase off market (which requires knowing, and trusting, an investing partner who has access to off-market deals or a trustworthy wholesaler that can produce them for you) or you are willing to accept no cash flow for the prospect of large appreciation gains. Which sounds great unless the market takes a dump and you have no cash flow, and now you are paying money each month to avoid losing your shirt on a bad investment.

If you are willing to look out of state the deals are easier to find in parts of the Midwest and south, but that requires you to accept the risk of working with an out of state agent, management company, and hoping that you don’t get ripped off or purchase a property that only looks good on paper but will turn into a money pit.

Biggest thing for a beginner is to be aware that cash flow is king, you will have more expenses than you expect, and become acquainted with Bigger Pockets.

We bought two rentals in Boise in 2012 and 2014 that have since appreciated by a combined $320k. I spent about $4500 to acquire the two of them (used VA and FHA loans) and they cash flow really well. They have been the single greatest financial decision I’ve ever made, or likely ever will make. But I have managed them long enough now to realize that I got quite lucky and probably couldn’t replicate my success in today’s market.