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Thanks for the thoughts. This whole deal is getting more skeptical by the day.

So it looks like I might be moving ahead on my first piece of property and I have a question. What I've been told is that the seller can't move out until after closing because he essentially needs the money to move out. I can understand that however I'm concerned that I could get hosed on this deal, if I close, he gets his money and he's still living there it could become quite a hassle if he decides not to move.

What I want to have happen is for the title company to hold half the funds that are the difference between the current lien and what my offer was. I'm thinking there is 50-60k in there. I want the title company to hold those funds until after he moves out. This should allow him to get the money he needs to move but also motivate him so that I don't have to deal with him deciding to prolong his departure after the closing date.

Is there some kind of standard form or verbiage to make something like this happen? Is this common practice for title companies in general?

Any help is much appreciated.

Hey - Did anyone read this article on MSN recently? It's an article about the benefits of renting instead of buying. He tries to make the case that the stock market is a smarter investment. Thoughts??

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/HomebuyingGuide/WhyRentToGetRicher.aspx

Mike - Thanks for the average number on operating expenses. That was one of the pieces I was missing. I didn't have any kind of good number on that one.

As far as the rents are concerned they are average or even a little high for the area. I can't see myself being able to raise them in the immediate future.

After putting all the pieces together obviously this place doesn't make sense.

Thanks for everyones input. I certainly appreciate it.

Noobdog - Thanks for the questions. I have the answers to most of those but there are a couple there I wasn't asking.

As far as no access to capital for managing the property that's not neccesarily true. I do have some money laying around for major repairs etc. What would you recommend having available?

r2d2 - To what end do I want the 10% down. What is that really doing for me? I understand that I can reduce the overall debt and slightly reduce my payments. The way it would be setup is the first 80% of the loan is at 6.25% and the remaining 20% is at 8%.

Bling Bucks- The reason I'm looking at 4units or less is simple because I can claim that it's my primary residence and get better financing than if it's considered an invesment property.

Thanks for the input folks. Any other thoughts are appreciated.

I want to throw out a scenario and see what people think about it. Any input or advice would be very much appreciated.

I'm 23 years old, I recently graduated college debt free and I'm making 40-55k a year. I want to get involved in real estate investing and have been looking at as many places as possible while doing research online.

I feel like I've found a potential fit but I really need some input. The property is 4 units, all 3bed/2bath, built in late 90s renting for 700 a piece so if I keep them all filled it's $2800 a month. The asking price is 350k and it looks like my monthly payments for a 0 down, 30year fixed would be around $2600.

Just looking at that it doesn't look like it makes a lot of sense however I don't currently have any real tax deductions so looking at an amortization schedule I can reduce my taxable income by over 21k the first year which should equate to an additional 6k in my pocket, obviously this number will go down over time.

I don't expect huge appreciation and I want to invest for the long-term. I'm not interesting in flipping places. As far as property management is concerned that's something I'll take care of myself. I was attempting to use the analysis tool on this site but the hard part for me is accurately estimating my expenses.

Any thoughts, questions on input on my situation would be appreciated.

Thanks!