It puts the ball in their court to tell you what's up keeping the conversation positive.  

Don't forget to contact your insurance company - as breed/weight restrictions can vary from carrier to carrier.I usually suggest adding a section in the lease that is a notice to the tenant that the insurance on the property will NOT cover the tenant's personal belongings or their temporary housing in the event of a catastrophe.

Between tenant turnover, maintenance, upkeep and the inability to find a decent property management company, I lose money.

I would put less weight on school district for 1 BR and 2BR - your target audience will not be a family with kids in school age, maybe a baby.Approach it from the other side: how much is your target audience bringing home net every month?

Sounds like a big deal.For those of you with experience on flat roofs--popular in Baltimore--how do you feel they'll handle the weight of all this predicted snowfall?

I'm not looking for the upkeep on a house especially since I move around a lot.  

Good post, I agree with you, i do believe a correction is coming, but with investors now having to put more skin in the game and not being able to drive up prices like they did years ago with no money down products and loose lending requirements, i dont think it will happen this year maybe 2 or 3 years down the road and that also depends on what region you are talking about, we didnt really feel the crash out here and we didnt experience the double digit appreciation either , i wasnt thinking of selling when i refinanced, a few months after i did it, my tenant moved out so that got me to thinking about changing my goals, i was in a 6.15 30year loan still paying pmi, so the fixed 15yr @ 4.375 was a better deal for me, and yes counting on appreciation is not good because its not guaranteed, i may end up keeping it because I like the idea of having it paid for in 15 years.  

Also, figuring $100/month for maintenance/upkeep.  

When I am working with a buyer, I prefer that they use a lender who sends the buyers information through an underwriting process to have a pre-approval that holds real weight.

A vacation rental will require more than just "occasional" cleaning or upkeep.