The bank also wanted the church to maintain “compensating balances” in their checking account.We had an existing $650,000 mortgage secured by the property, which had been paid down to $615,000.  

There's a difference, and that difference is how they benchmark cost of funds and interest rate risk from a balance sheet capital perspective. 

. - Lenders are not balance sheet lenders.

See below for the numbers:Home Market Value: ~525kLoan Balance: ~476kEquity: ~50kMortgage Payment: $2570Rent Price: $2650Property Manager: 10% (potentially 7% w/military discount from a referral I got)Cashflow: $-185/month, $-2,220/yr1st year Equity Payoff from tenant: $11,561It's a 4 bed, 3.5 bath home built in 2011 that only requires some new paint to be rent ready.

Could easily pay off entire loan balance or inject a large amount of equity in order to refinance and still make the deal work.- Puts material equity into the deal, in the form of cash. - 750+ credit score- Pays legal fee for seller to have representation from lawyer to walk them through the terms of the subject-to deal, including making it very clear that there are extremely real, and potentially devastating risks in the event of buyer default.Irresponsible/unethical Sub-to buyer looks like this:- Poor/no credit - Would not qualify for the mortgage they are taking over payments for, much less a new mortgage if a forced refinance event happens.- Is attempting to get 100 subject-to deals, but is not even capitalized to pay off or inject enough equity to refinance a single one of the acquired deals to have it qualify for refinance, much less a few dozen of them. 

How do you balance the workload between seasoned agents and newcomers?

Mine are 5% of loan balance if prepaid within 1 year, 3% within 2 years, 1% within 3 years. 

Think about the policies and communications around the classic boy/girl friend and unauthorized person lease terms and procedures (from on-boarding through screening and lease signing).....But if it is really too stressful, look at your scale (is duplex or ten-plex right for you and your work/life balance), your market (the neighborhood --working class or upper class), your team (like a good eviction lawyer or contractor) and see if it is a good fit...

Balancing risk and reward is crucial in real estate investing.Bottom LineThere’s no one-size-fits-all answer.

All that is due is your principal balance.