I am sure this happens in many markets and yes there is some speculation involved with whether or not an area will improve enough to make this worth while, but if you buy the property at a decent price, then you could potentially still be covered if the area never does in fact improve.Thanks for any input.

Hi @Dave Bopp,I obviously have not seen your finances so this is in part speculation, but if the lender you spoke with did not include rental income from the hypothetical property you are looking to purchase in the math (most wont), then it's entirely possible that a traditional mortgage is still an option.

Speculation rarely pays-off.

Speculating on "if the property has X, the answer will be Y" holds no value with such properties because the X is probably based on garbage data such as what it looks like or what is on the MLS.

I have heard of gamblers, aka, speculators looking for appreciation gains, consider replacement costs when they invest.

In regards to price and value, there is a fair amount of speculation from us posters.  

Lots of speculation out there as to what the market will do over the next few years.

Some of the posts here are speculating based on increasing the rents. 

Instead, it is much better to roll up your sleeves, and diligently hunt for the right deal, be highly selective to make sure you buy a great deal, force appreciation if at all possible, and get in such that you can stay in through thick and thin if you need or choose to ... this will open up multiple exits and tilt the odds in your favor ... heads you win big, tails you win a little, but the house always wins and you're the house ... if you are unable to stack the deck in your favor then the best thing to do is not play the game until you learn enough to from those that do ... people sometimes say that going for appreciation is speculation and if you get it it is only because you are lucky ...

If you are speculating on appreciation that is a viable option but you will need to contribute cash out of pocket to the monthly income to sustain the purchase.