This will probably sound harsher than I mean it too so please keep in mind I am not trying to offend anyone.

@Andrew Holmes  The city of Chicago uses code enforcement to ensure absentee landlords and non performing property managers are not dragging down blocks and neighborhoods especially in tougher areas where there are already plenty of external factors working against a community.  

Besides this setup will not give you any equity stake in the purchase, as you will not be on the loan or on any other external agreement.My recommendation would be to speak with a few lender to understand your options.

The forms are external javascript forms that dump into the CRM.

If that's the case, the OP may not be committing fraud, but the lender is.The only way it may not be fraud is if it's a portfolio loan (not insured by any external institution), in which case I would argue it's not really an OO loan if the lender says you don't have to be an OO (by definition).

Added external AC unit $3k (we did some of the install e.g. ran the lines etc)So by the time we decide to move everything in the house will basically have been redone to our liking.Rents In My Area:I did a search through Craigslist to see what houses were renting for and found a rough estimate of around $1,250 to $1,400 a month for 3 BR 2 Bath.

So I wonder what are other landlords using for security lighting and surveillance of external common areas of their properties - including keeping a eye and/or light on HVAC equipment beside and behind the building?

I'd argue the million other external factors that could impact value play a greater role than the TV show.

Ralph, appraisers call external factors mentioned as "external obsolesence" (location) and inside factors "functional obsolesence" (poor floor plans, small closets)..

Chris Mason, in my opinion, the 50% rule is irrelevant in most high-rent markets such as you'd find in many parts of California (and elsewhere in the country), and its irrelevance in California is amplified by Proposition 13.There's no way that a 3/2 SFR renting for $3,000 in Orange County or the Bay Area or a suburb of LA is going to have three times the expenses over the long-haul as a similar house renting for $1,000 in Indy or Cleveland with its lower-quality tenants and harsher weather conditions, which is what someone blindly applying the 50% rule to each property would come up with.