You take out those utilities from the S8 voucher rent and the resulting NET rent is often BELOW market rents.Ask more questions to protect yourself from being taken advantage of. 

Here are a few suggestions on how you can maximize the wealth of information available: Check out the blogs and podcasts, or take advantage of the search feature (magnifying glass).

As European residents, we directly manage investments, leveraging the fiscal and legal advantages available in the EU.

I am going to finish the rehab and get it rented then resubmit for a rental loan.I have used Cashcall Mortgage twice and have been very happy with them but Elite seems to be more flexible and have more options so was going to see if they are competitive.

There are significant advantages to investing here (lower barrier to entry, much better price to rent ratio's, etc. etc.).

Hopefully, you can meet genuine people that want you to succeed and will assist you in your endeavors without trying to take advantage of you.

There are multiple strategies to take advantage of opportunities during an expansion.  

I was willing to pay more than my competition.

There are opportunities out there but some strategies are risky. 1 - Airbnb (STR) comes to mind - very competitive, very saturated and becoming highly regulated.2 - Most STRs are transitioning to MTR so that market will be saturated soon if it isn't already.3 - Insurance crisis in florida is getting bad so those costs will eat up cashflow and short term appreciation.

I prefer to source all my deals off-market, which allows me to find properties with less competition and negotiate directly with motivated sellers.