These areas have good rental demand and opportunities to add value through light renovations.Build Your Team: Work with a realtor familiar with investment properties (like me!)

Quote from @Nicholas Dillon: I read somewhere that you can request to have your mortgage insurance dropped once your Loan to Value reaches 80%.

I bought a house 3 years ago with $420K and after 3 years the value on Redfin is about $460K so the appreciation is about $40K.

Our lender has informed us that we need 12 months of rental history to use the actual rent for financing purposes, or we must rely on the appraiser's fair market short term rental value.

that we’ve learned in our 24 years, managing almost 700 doors across the Metro Detroit area, including almost 100 S8 leases:Class A Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 3-5 years for positive cashflow, but you get highest relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% the more recent norm.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 680+ (roughly 5% probability of default), zero evictions in last 7 years.Class B Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, decent amount of relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% should be applied only if proper research done to support.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 620-680 (around 10% probability of default), some blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 5 yearsClass C Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, high cashflow and at the lower end of relative rent & value appreciation.

Bridge Loan with Refinancing Exit: A bridge loan could provide a short-term solution to pull the cash you need now, especially if you’ve already added value through your rehab.

Even if you can find insurance now, premiums will likely remain high, and resale value could be impacted unless the wiring is updated.

I think what you're really asking is how to identify good value areas where rents may be trending upward but the prices still remain relatively lower.An important metric is tenant household income to rent ratio.

@Colleen A Levitt check if you have a prepay penalty and what the seasoning requirements would be for the new loan to recognize the new value.

When things are running smoothly it’s hard to see the value of paying a PM 8 - 10%….