If you live in a part of the country that doesn't cash flow it's almost a necessity.

I would like to point out that a $200 or even $400 differecne is not much in my neck of the woods, however, when I take issue is when a buyer comes in with an agent who has a necessity to get creative to get them into a home such as higher contract purchase price with a substantial amount back in seller concessions.

As for not having a W2 Income, it's not a necessity but you of course have to make the determination.One of my mentee's is a college student (no W2 income) and with the help of a little family cash just purchased his 1st home.  

To answer the original questions posed by Lindsay, the current state of real estate appraisal (both resi and commercial) is one of necessity.

The only reason I'm not using property management is because the property is in an area with practically no rental market and thus no property managers and because I'm barely breaking even on the deal as it stands (rented it out of necessity after having to transfer and I couldn't sell it).

On the other hand, they say necessity is the mother of invention...

I had a client do that once out of necessity, but when we looked at the numbers, her cash flow on the rental improved even better than before.

I could potentially drive if it was an absolute necessity, but I'd rather avoid it.

I wanted to get a feel for those who invest with SFR out of necessity and those who just enjoy that space as a landlord.My experience has been people do it because that is the cash they are working with.

We live in MN and it's winter so heat is a necessity.