Without a firm base and working familiarity with these three areas the investor will not have the knowledge to analyze, negotiate and close advantageous real estate transactions. 2- Experience - the first few deals are likely to be smaller, harder, with more “surprises” and not as profitable as the investor imagined.

Now, three years later, my tenant reported cracks in every room—paint cracking and full-line cracks in the bathroom, living room, and bedroom (walls, ceiling).A drywall contractor looked at it and said it’s normal wear and tear, but I’m concerned since it’s in every room.

.: In a prior post from about 2 months ago, Kerry Malarkey and Nathan Gesner mentioned a small landlord is exempt from FHA requirements requiring the acceptance of emotional support & assistance animals if one of the following is true:"Owner-occupied buildings Properties with four units or fewer that are owned and lived in by the ownerSingle-family homes Homes that are sold or rented without a broker by the owner, as long as the owner doesn't own more than three at once" (Quote from Nathan's reply))https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/1219359-pitbu...Given this, if a landlord does qualify for the exemption, what exactly does this mean? 

For example, will they look at the T12 (Trailing 12 months), or something shorter like a T6 or T3 (last three months).

Quote from @Chris Seveney: @Luke H.I would be very skeptical of appraisal at $250k and buying it for $120k.On paper yes seems like not a bad deal but I wouldn’t do it because it’s five year term.

As to asking the IRS reps, let me limit my comment to just three letters: LOL

If I was the buyer's broker, I would have checked myself to protect my client.If they had, then they would have found out it was not a three family.

Generally, the biggest difference is that DSCR Loans often have prepayment penalties attached which typically will have a 1%-5% fee if you prepay the loan within the first five years so its the "risk" of having to pay a little extra fee if you sell or refinance the property pretty early on.PS - check out this series of 10 articles published on BP on all things DSCR Loans which can give you a full rundown on everything you would need to know when using this type of loan!

I have received quotes/feedback from three contractors here I can share some information with you. 

Consider this: there are an estimated 10K homes in Pacific Palisades, at least half of which were destroyed. 25% were constructed during the 60-70's and +/- 75 TOTAL were built in the past FIVE years.