We plan to diversify with LTR's in the STL area.This is so true - that's why we are not 'algorithm friendly' in the city.There are a lot of nuances - by block, location and house qualities that hike or destroy value in a unique STL way. 

I think I understand the basic concepts of the varies return qualifying methods, but when I start looking at things like the IRR algorithm, my eyes glaze over.

(Please post the algorithm/math in your response)3)What percentage rate do you need to make it work?

I fought my assessment when it spiked a couple of years ago and found that there are 2 suspect metrics in their algorithm that they can't explain.

CraigsList runs on algorithms and if X number of people flag it for every Y number of people that visit the ad, it gets flagged and removed.

The algorithms for the 3 credit bureaus are constantly changing.

An algorithm only gets you so far.  

IMO:You really shouldn't look at the FICO score at all unless you're relatively good at understanding what goes into it.If I can tell a dude to put things on his debit card instead of his credit card (that he pays off in full each month when the bill comes), and bump his score 37 points in 30 days, with no other changes to his financial life (note that I didn't even change his spending habits, just which card he swipes... told him he could have the rewards points, or good credit, but not both), that tells us that the FICO scoring algorithm wasn't accurately capturing his creditworthiness to begin with.If he's got a 732 one month after talking to me, and literally the only thing that changed was which card he swipes, he should have had a 732 a month ago in a fair world.

Their "Zestimates" seem to me to be a blatant attempt to fan the flames of the market -- after all, who could resist buying a $78k house "worth" $468k.Rural or neighborhoods with a variety of home types/conditions are particularly confusing for their algorithms, though goodness knows I would have dearly loved to sell my MH for the $379K they said it was worth shortly after I purchased it for $60k!

Mortgage lenders often use a more stringent algorithm to calculate credit scores than other types of financing.