If I protect my numbers, interest rates would have to be 3.5% or so in order for a 1% house to work (assuming 20% down), which means for $3000 rental revenue to work, the debt load would have to be about $235K at that interest rate (give or take with variable taxes and insurance numbers). 

I just found out the property is in a Zone A flood area, which means lower property values and a longer selling timeline.At this point, I’d rather take the $5K loss than deal with the potential headaches.

Looking for free or cheap paperwork online is not the route to take.

To take it a step further we have been taking loans from our 401K’s to help support down payments on rental properties.

Although you might be able to get away with it for a while, all it would take is for a neighbor to call in and you could get shut down or fined.

It will just take time to remodel the place. 

I don't mind doing a short term loan and then refinancing as it won't take me more than a year to get the other 10% together. 

So, if you are taking 2% of the 5% from the listing commission, it would not come from the agent, the agent has the contract with the seller for the 5%.

He also charged a $300 nonrefundable pet fee for "inspect[ing] the unit and to take action, if need be, by revoking the lease if the pets have been a nuisance or has not been maintained."

Also, rather than taking a large amount of money and investing into one single directly owned property, I can split it up into much smaller chunks across many different passive investments.