In NC 2 months rent is the maximum I can take as a security deposit and if he moves out early i would be legally obligated to return the prepaid rent.

Don't forget about approx 5% in closing costs and prepaids for tax and insurance.

Here's my quick desktop analysis (it is a guestimate):170k Purchase Price * 20% (Down Payment) = 34k + ~4k (3% for estimated closing costs & prepaids)=~$38k total acquisition cost.That leaves 136k (principal balance) @ 5.5% for 30 years with a payment of 772 Principal & Interest, plus ~300 (?)

A little better, but that's a decent chunk of cash to put down on a property and you still have closing costs, prepaids, and any repairs that need to be done sooner rather than later.Of course if you're going to live in the property there are some more favorable conventional financing terms available out there right now and even better portfolio products from local banks requiring low down payments, low interest rates, and no PMI if you qualify.

Obviously you can back out some of that like pre paid insurance etc and I would want that done.

If you have any tenants that don't have a bank account we have also partnered with NetSpend where they can use the NetSpend prepaid card like a bank account on our system.  

Escrowed property taxes less prorated taxes credited to you at closing go into a Prepaid Asset account on the balance sheet.  

The re-fi was about $3249 in fees and another $831 in pre-paid interest. 

In addition, you'll have closing costs, loan origination fees (I assume this apply to FHA loans, too, but perhaps not), inspection fees, appraisal fees, and prepaid taxes and insurance.

It also says that "The new loan amount can be no more than the actual documented amount of the borrower's initial investment in purchasing the property plus the financing of closing costs, prepaid fees, and points on the new mortgage loan (subject to the maximum LTV, CLTV, and HCLTV ratios for the cash-out transaction based on the current appraised value)."