Do the math on those numbers and you've just made a usurious loan.Or, you'll start out being the white knight that saves the day with a loan.  

Taxes on a $200k house 2 miles from me in one direction isn't $4500, in the other direction can be $10-11,000... both will have very different end results.You want someone to hand you the math, but it isn't possible to tell you of the 30%, 28.26% will be profit and 1.74% will be "costs"... it just isn't that easy.

Hi Thomas, in MA the landlord is required to hold both the security and last months rent in an interest-bearing account.

I am with @Jeff Filali on this one... his math formula indeed makes sense  (heck if you want to see real life documentary how I am executing his formula in real life simply visit my blog).. 

Its really just a math problem.

You really don't have to trust people much, it helps, but trusting math is far more efficient.What are the numbers of the deal and how do they fit into your overall strategy?

We occupied it as a primary residence two out of the past five years.We can command strong rents and have a very healthy tenant pool.Some numbers: Based on the comps, I believe we could sell for north of 200k (let's say 210k for the sake of math)We purchased the property for 130k and currently owe 117kThe mortgage, all in (PMI included) is about $970The rent is currently $1625/month (now on month to month)Our strategy is really buy and hold.

Ought to be really interesting to see the math at work.............. : )    

At $140k it may not pencil out, so I would just recommend to do the math in advance and find out for sure. 

You can flip anywhere as long as you do your math correctly.