And I say ASAP because an appropriate rental for me to move into just became available.Here are my assumptions: The condo will be fairly easy to rent The rental income will only cover 75% of my monthly expenses on the condo (mortgage, taxes, HOA fees) but I'm stuck paying those regardless.The rent payment for my new place, and the rent I collect, will be the same on a monthly basis (break-even)Repair/maintenance costs will be the same whether I live in the condo or rent it out (break-even)I will incur new costs for professional management and potential vacancyThe condo is in a good location and I won’t be underwater in five yearsMy front-end DTI is 28% and I have excellent credit with no other debtHere are my questions:From what I’ve read, there is some variation in what lenders require to use rental income to qualify for the next mortgage.  

My systems of investing was called "Trial and Terror", my motivation was "Fear of Poverty".Now after 47 years of Trial and Terror, I still find myself learning about and perfecting unusual alternative financing and acquisition of properties and developing commercial real estate methods.We are developing two buildings on Charles Street now into, what might be, the largest Night Club in Baltimore.

The one thing I see running through this thread is that I'll be beginning 'trial by fire'.

I was going to name my LLC that I use for my fix and flips "Flipping Cleveland" as those of us that have called this gem of a city home have said variations of this over the years in regards to our local governments and/or sports teams... ok, mostly our football team... and the baseball team since the early 2000's... and our basketball team sans LeBron... 

For that matter a buddy who may say something to help his friend out There are many variations that could be discussed, some valid issues, some not.  

A variation on the theme which I considered but chose not to use would be, instead of buying the appliances, window coverings, bathroom finishings and landscaping, I could have given the tenants an “upgrade” budget, where I still approve and pay for stuff, but they pick it out and choose the installers and landscapers and painters.

I plan to widen my net and provide more saturation, but I thought a pre-foreclosure list like this would give me a good trial run before sending to the big list.Any thoughts on my ideas would be appreciated.ThanksChris

We went through many trials and tribulations- undependable,mia contractors when rehabbing, layed off tenants, negotiating rent payment splits, having a drunk driver take out 2 units, and having to take over for a bad property manager, but in the end it was worth it.

There are many great references and slight variations to this strategy in the forums, blogs and podcasts.All the best on your journey!

It's people like you who have worked hard and learned from trial and error where real truth comes from.