And financing small properties (<50k) is notoriously difficult with any lender.It seems you would want:* A diversified roster of lenders - 15 or more preferably with $100k+ each to invest (meaning a total asset portfolio of $400k+)* Work with their fee-based financial planner if they have one, or recommend they utilize one, to fit this lending activity into their planning process.* Use 3rd party loan servicer with escrowing* Facilitate cashing out lenders early by matching with other lenders.

A LOT of them have the notorious baby blue or pink bathrooms...

Some houses are notorious for being occupied for 3 months no issues, then late payments, then partial payments, then no payments, and eviction.

They would be for roofs, new carports, or the asphalt/concrete driveways and parking areas.Many condos are now owned by renters and the landlords are notorious for not paying their maintenance fee.

Simple calculation - average rental period for the area and "good tenant" profile (in our case, for instance, in Japan, its 4-5 years in the singles' units we like most), take 25% off that time for unexpected downturns (or more if your area is notoriously unstable), and work out the percentage 1/2 or 1 month rent income is of that period (in our case more like 1-2 months).I think, in the vast majority of cases, and particularly if you work out how many empty months bad screening or management can cost you, you'll see there's no doubt as to the financial gain potential a good PM or tenant placer can be worth.And that's without even taking into account the personal toll of time and resources spent when you do it all yourself...

Banks are also notorious for "shopping" your offer for the purpose of getting a better price.I have bought a lot of REOs and have found banks to generally be a lot harder to work with than individuals.

Where I'm at, because of a very few but very notorious slumlords, neighborhood groups are up in arms against _all_ landlords and pressuring the city for landlord registration, huge landlord fines for TENANT violations, and so on.If you're not a slumlord, great; you'll probably beat this (unless you're in one of the socialist republics, and if you are - stop investing there).

Be sure to talk to them about 3% down conventional loans, because FHA loans are notoriously difficult, and sellers will prefer a conventional over an FHA, because the FHA appraisal requires the seller to fix little things like peeling paint, broken window panes, loose handrails, etc. while conventionals typically do not.Some borrowers are approved for a higher loan amount through FHA than conventional, but I believe the MIP is generally higher.Also, this is something your agent should be helping you with.

Westchester taxes are INSANE (even worse than notoriously high NJ taxes). 

The other risk is that if you come in and kick over the hornet's nest, one or more of the neighbors could go to land court and claim "adverse possession".NC might be different, but here in MA, if you use the property of another, "openly, continuously and notoriously" for a period of 20 years, you can file an action and potentially own that property.If you really want to remove that road, you need to block it off for at least a day to break the "continuously" element of the test.