I've been researching options for sometime now, but felt compelled to start a new thread as this is a new RE transaction I have no experience with, and I'm really not certain I want to tie up a good portion of my capital in this deal.Here are the outlines of the deal:I buy property at $120K w/ 20% down; tenant escrows $10K upon my purchase and lease signing with them.Under the option, $200/month of rent will be credited to future tenant down payment.Tenant purchase price is set at $135K.

Since I'm buying a home as well as investing I'm making sure I get exactly what I'm paying for, hopefully keeping nasty surprises at a minimum.Thanks for outlining the expenses for me, I'll post back in a bit with what I find.

Also, for the list you outlined. 

I have decided recently to make a business plan and outline/checklist for my future real estate investments. 

We outline all acceptable methods without instructions in the agreement.  

A lot of the holding costs you outline can be considered a normal part of living, and not exclusive to this investment (if you own ANY home, you'll have taxes/insurance/etc.).

And you have a promissory note outlining the terms of the loan. 

The general outline of the issue is this:My business partner on a previous real estate deal and I are working to purchase a 2 flat in Chicago. 

Also, the "Fannie eligibility matrix" will outline how many months reserves you will need.

Part of these details are outlined in this post and by Ben, the other part is that different price points will require the rule to be adjusted as one deal meeting the 1.5% rule may have the exact same cash flow as another meeting the 2% rule and that may be due to a number of different factors.Lastly, there has been some argument and discussion on classing properties.