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Not sure if this will help but...If you have documentation (letters from the creditors) of your pay offs, or if you pay your credit cards down to 30% or less of the credit limit and you have documentation of the new balance or if you have documentation of things being reported on your credit report that should not be there, you can give this doumentation yo your morgage brooker and request a rapid rescore for a fee.
http://www.newhomesource.com/articles/rapidrescore.htm?refer=DSI

Here is some very useful info on credit reports and scores.

http://www.creditinfocenter.com

http://www.bankrate.com/nltrack/news/debt/debtcreditguide/improve-credit1.asp

http://www.bankrate.com/nltrack/news/DrDon/20060316a1.asp

FICO Score estimator

http://www.bankrate.com/nltrack/fico/calc.asp

I printed this out and use it to glean info from the aforementioned site regarding various cities here (the northwest). I am able to compare, and can rule out some cites so I can focus on gathering more info on the others.

Thank you :woohoo:

I like your suggestion. I really like the idea of being an anonymous owner by hiring a Property Management Co. I am worried about the tenant’s privacy and mine and some of the problems I might encounter living close quarters. I will see if I can afford to hire a property management company.

On the other hand I may not be able to afford this service at this time. Also I do want to learn. I want to know my business, the good the bad and the ugly. Sometimes the best way to learn and know, is to do. I bought two books on land lording just in case I have to land lord.
1. The Unofficial Guide to Managing Rental Property
2. The Complete Landlording Handbook

Once again…I will be and know that I have to live on the property. That fact is playing a roll in my decision on which multi to purchase.

Does someone have more thoughts and or ideas in regiards to to my questions?

I would greatly appreciate it.

Yes I am financing. I am pre-approved on a VA backed loan. I have all of my loan information. I have looked at a few places. I got the property tax info (online), got rental history and some other facts and used my Rental Property Investment Advisor program to evaluate them. So far I have only liked one place (but there are plenty more to look at), but to use this one as an example, It has many great qualities, but there are still a few things I don't like. The neighborhood is "OK", it does not have a fenced yard, no sidewalks (so it's just street then my front yard) and the both bedrooms are on the small side. I am not sure if these things should matter when the program kicks back that it is a good investment. I have to live in it for a while and I have to rent out the other side, if I don't like the bedrooms who else will? Or does esthetics like bedroom size in a rental even matter when the numbers look good?

Basically I was just wondering if the information at http://www.homegain.com/ is valuable in any way? Should it be taken in to consideration when deciding on a location? If so how do I use/calculate it?

I will “Look for the average rents and then shop for houses where you find the rent is high.”

Thank you again,
Tasigurl

First timer, looking for a duplex in the NW. I have a program to run numbers but i have questions on as to identifying a good location. I Found a website www.homegain.com there you can look at Demographic and Housing Market Data (examples below). Is any of this information of any value? What can I use this data for? Can i use it to help with picking a good location? When comparing the data from one market to another what am I looking for? How do I translate this into something tangible so I can make a good decision?

Thank you

Demographic and Housing Market Data for Camas, WA:
Census Data Camas Clark County Washington
Population 18,334 345,195 5,790,538
Area in square miles 42 732 62,976
People per sq. mi. 439 472 92
Median Age 35 34 37
Median Family Income$67,871 $53,108 $44,655
Civilians 47% 47% 47%
Armed Forces 0% 0% 1%
Not in Labor Force 23% 24% 26%
Education Levels Camas Clark County Washington
K-12 21% 25% 25%
High School Diploma 16% 17% 16%
College Graduate 11% 9% 12%
Post Graduate 6% 4% 5%
Real Estate Market Data
Camas Clark County Washington
Total Housing Units 4,620 72,081 1,133,691
Average Home Price $265,194 $203,225 $227,377
Median Rental Price $589 $618 $467
Owner Occupied 77% 64% 60%
Rental Units 18% 31% 33%
Vacant Units 5% 5% 7%
HomeGain Agents 73

Demographic and Housing Market Data for Gresham, OR:
Census Data Gresham Multnomah County Oregon
Population 66,795 95,870 2,426,091
Area in square miles 34 212 93,042
People per sq. mi. 1,981 452 26
Median Age 34 33 40
Median Family Income$56,263 $55,067 $41,205
Civilians 50% 51% 46%
Armed Forces 0% 0% 0%
Not in Labor Force 23% 22% 28%
Education Levels Gresham Multnomah County Oregon
K-12 25% 25% 28%
High School Diploma 17% 17% 18%
College Graduate 9% 9% 10%
Post Graduate 3% 3% 4%
Real Estate Market Data
Gresham Multnomah County Oregon
Total Housing Units 13,273 18,781 446,281
Average Home Price $207,912 $206,350 $190,774
Median Rental Price $625 $625 $444
Owner Occupied 57% 61% 61%
Rental Units 38% 34% 30%
Vacant Units 5% 5% 9%
HomeGain Agents 89[/img]

Thank you very much. This is my first time buying a home and or rental. I wanted to make sure that I was making the right decision to buy a duplex rather than a single-family home. I am pre-approved and I looked at my first property(Duplex's) last Saturday. (It was so exciting). Due to my loan I have to live on site. So I guess I'll get the good with the bad.
any thoughts and or advise for a first timer? I wanted to get a book on landording, and recomendations?

Soon I will be buying a house for the first time. I would like some advice/pros and cons on the following scenarios. Should I buy a 4 bedroom house move in and rent out 2 of the rooms for a year or two or until I can afford to buy another house and turn the 4 bedroom into a rental? Or should I buy the 4 bedroom and not live in it and rent the whole house out, while I continue to pay rent where I currently live until I can buy another house?

I know there are some other options like buying a duplex/triplex however I'd like to read some thoughts/ pros and cons on the above scenarios as well as buying a duplex/triplex.

Also are there any books or guides to renting out rooms in your home?

Thank you