While it may seem asinine to you, the process has to be consistent throughout the portfolio and, the process is both regulated and enforced by both state and federal regulators....AKA the government.

new paint, upgrade bathroom vanities, upgrade laundry room, fix this, fix that, etc...the sale price is going to govern our budget for our next house. 

The net income is subject to federal and state taxes at your ordinary, marginal rate. 

It is most likely a government insured loan you are applying for.

Such a pain and it’s not like the government will come in down the line and pave sidewalks at this property. 

@Etan Frankel although the government has a hard deadline of April 20th, 2018 to establish designated opportunity zones nation-wide, the investments wont happen for a short period afterwards while the IRS works on designating qualifications for the certification of an Opportunity Zone Fund.As soon as the certifications have been designated and the flood gates for applications are opened, i am sure you will begin to see many Opportunity Fund's pop up that would be eager to participate in the investment.

I lived in Baltimore for about a year and lived in Federal Hill.

I've heard people refer to the return on T-bills as the risk free rate, but even that's contingent on the government remaining solvent :)There's no way I'd go through the trouble of operating income properties for a 10% return either.. and I'd like to assume most others wouldn't either.. although seeing some of the price to rent ratios for recent sales around the nicer suburbs in my area makes me question that assumption sometimes...All in all the thrust of the argument was that a reasonably competent investor should not have much trouble securing, at the very minimum, a 10% return on their capital without taking on excessive risk or administrative burden. 

Conventional or government assisted?

Hi I recently came across some local programs in the Chicago area (Chicago Home Assistance Program) that offers a grant for up to 7% of the loan value so I was just curious to know if anyone has used any government sponsored programs like this to buy an investment property.If anyone has any experience with this I’d love to hear about it.