No cushion at all. rent 7/10% per month rent/price. not even close for my business.

Do you usually list your highest and best offer upfront, or do you provide a little cushion in your offer with the expectation that the lender will follow up w/ a counteroffer / request for highest and best offer?  

Now Ocwen wants to change my cushion amount on my escrow account which is way too much.

Been rough on the house and it probably needs a major clean up, paint and carpet.Here is what I was thinking of offering (Open to suggestions)$185,000 purchase price3.75% interest rate, 30 amortizationBalloon payment due in 10 years, but no prepayment penalty if I pay it off earlierInterest only payments for the first 2 years (Give me cushion to deal with the eviction, clean up, etc.

I was going to pay cash for my car but have realized I like having that cushion.)Student Loan $13k at 3%, $150/Mo ~90 months leftHouse Loan, 57k left at 4.25% %, monthly payment $500 including insurance and taxes, Roommate pays $400/mo so my effective payment is only $100.  

Sort out your finances, know what you can afford with keeping a contingency cushion and what funding sources you can tap into.Use BiggerPockets to network locally, set up key word alerts to see forum posts that interest you, and listen to the podcasts to get great ideas.

As well as hold time, the other two sales in the community went into escrow in 2 days so if I can bang out reno in a month which should be no problem and list aggressively at 549k to entice multiple offers I'm confident it'll move well over ask ( but who really knows )But yeah I agree the cushion is light.

Building a financial cushion for unexpected expenses is essential for successful property investment.Remote Work and Relocation: Your ability to move freely due to remote work aligns well with your investment plan.

As a new investor, it's impossible to know everything so you need as much "insurance" or cushion so that if the rehab was not as good as promised or you have much less cash flow than expected (due to capex or maintenance or unexpected vacancies), you can rest easy that you still got a good deal.Lastly, as a new investor you probably don't have much cash or leverage to buy more than 2-3 deals at once so don't rush.  

If the cushion is good deal will be an amazing learning experience.