would like to catch the appreciation of the property and very ideally have it be a good enough deal that it cashflows

Was good enough for me.Money is never enough to motivate me.

I believe every loan document will ask the borrower, if you are an American citizen and if you tick on 'no', you'll have to explain and submit a visa (I originally came here on H1B).If your income alone is good enough , then you shouldn't even have to mention your husband.If his H1B expired and he's without status, then it would be pretty difficult to renew.Hopefully, immigration reform will get voted on next year.

As a lender I need to make sure the deal is good enough for both sides.

And if he was good enough, and worked hard enough, and could afford insurance, he could likely afford to cover the repair he SHOULD be held responsible to cover.Another side of the coin is that there are so many handymen and "contractors" flying under the radar who are basically working illegally.

Telling tenants that because of the new Dodd-Frank regulations you can no longer offer rent credits should be good enough.

What would I need to determine if this deal is good enough without pulling records from the local office?

If they are in good enough condition that an owner-occupant is making offers on them, then they will not be good investor deals (typically).

.$500-1,000 is pretty standard with a bank, and on a retail MLS situation the agent will (rightfully so) try to get that same kind of EMD for their client.If a seller balks at a $10 EMD then you have to decide if the deal is good enough, as in safe enough, that you want to put "real" money on the table.

@FRANK DARIENZOYour example of a $150k house for $114k is just not good enough, assuming your numbers are correct.First of all I would not go higher than 65% MINUS repairs, that would be $90k.