I just got a closing costs quote from TD bank: ~5200Origination 840Appraisal 525Credit Report 9Customer Authentication Report .85 (85 cents)Flood Determination 5Tax Service Fee 58Title Services and Lender Title Insurance 1470Owner Title Insurance 650Government Recording Charges 715Transfer Taxes 600Initial Escrow 240Daily Int Charges 90Homeowner's Ins 75I'm not sure how much less these numbers differ in Michigan.

With your house paid off , you can sleep well at night , I dont gamble with my primary , if everything goes south , I still have a roof for the family .

Don't gamble with the money you can't afford to lose

Will you tend to be super picky with tenants, or be willing to take the first gamble that meets your qualifications (since they are all truly gambles anyway)?

If you want to gamble with your money, go to Las Vegas.

There is a difference between investing and gambling/speculating.

Essentially gambling that the value of your leveraged assets is going to increase over time.  

To me, that's gambling, and while I don't mind gambling on occasion, I don't do it with with my investment money

That roof job was not cheap.It's up to you if you want to gamble a low ball offer w/o knowing what kinds of sins are underneath that roof and tile.Can you get work done reasonably or will you get held up by high priced contractors?

I am not saying people do not make money in stocks I just see those more of a gamble.