The smartest thing I ever did was by a duplex near a university. The mortgage is about 2K/month and I rent the places out for $2000 and $2500 ($2500 has patio and is a few SqFt bigger). The reason they're so pricy (relative to the mortgage) is because the units are all hardwood floors, and I furnished the place. On top of all that I (
) pay for a DSL line. The tenants are all students from the uni so they love the place and take _DAMN_ good care of it. Haven't had a problem yet. Thank God.
That's ~$2500 in my pocket (err for my wifes shopping habit) per month.