Especially the ones that had adjustable portfolio loans.

How do you all handle annual increases to adjust for taxes and potential insurance hikes and would you have them sign a new MTM agreement or add an addendum? 

The market changes, and you have to adjust your strategy to match the market.

. - not my first choice, unethical, needs cashb) Get to do a 13% or 19% rent increase if rents haven't been increased since May 1977 or May 1976, respectively - I will find out if there are records going this far back in due diligence phase, if offer gets acceptedc) Operate with a loss or very low NOI for 1 year, after that we will be eligible to apply for a Just & Reasonable Rent Adjustment. - with this, we can potentially increase rents by up to 145% depending on a comparison with baseline 1977 level rent amount.I have 2 questions:1) If there exists these 2 other, legal ways to increase rent in a rent controlled area, why does it seems like the only option most investors consider is cash for keys?

You could flip houses in your spare time but it is very competitive and capital intensive.

They suggested adding an external cleanout for about $8,000, and we agreed to split the cost by adjusting the home’s price.However, after installing the cleanout, we discovered that the actual problem was far more severe.

So when an appraiser looks at the data, if your home is the most recent sale then they will use that to adjust for their appraisal report which shows value is dropping. 

Rates are going to have "loan-level pricing adjustments" (LLPAs) that will have different rates depending upon Loan-to-Values, Credit Scores, Property Type, and many other factors.

Ask if the seller wants to be the bank, explain the savings in cap gains, and then see if you can structure a lower down payment to go direct and then you can pay the price they want if you adjust the principal and interest in your favor.

If I know dollar would halve over next whatever, I'd borrow and leverage myself to the gills in inflation adjusting assets.