But I am aware of fluctuations in the utilities.

We're hoping that we can manage to get tenants to turn over in the summer, where we can spend a couple of weeks down in DC combining a little vacation in the place with fixing things up and finding a new tenant).Of course I made some mistakes already, too, but I think I'll get away with them this time...So after getting my feet wet, I've been reading about REI, and we do have cash / equity (our primary home is just about paid off) to stuff with, so now I'm considering to get into it in a non-accidental way, and it seems more prudent to look at our local area (NH seacost), but it turns out I have little idea about the purchase/rental market here, and it doesn't seem all that easy to find out (in NoVA, at least, there's a very active market, while here prices seem to fluctuate wildly for no obvious (to me) reason.

Best way to find local CAP rate is to talk to commercial realtor and ask them what it is, or see what other properties have sold for recently, but you would need to know their NOI. you can't assume the percentage for maintenance ( not just maintenance, utilities, taxes, water, sewer, etc to determine your NOI ) you have the numbers, as inconsistent as they seem to be, some should remain constant, those that fluctuate try to use an average.

Examples of income of this type include income from hourly workers with fluctuating hours, or income that includes commissions, bonuses, or overtime.History of Receipt: Two or more years of receipt of a particular type of variable income is recommended; however, variable income that has been received for 12 to 24 months may be considered as acceptable income, as long as the borrower’s loan application demonstrates that there are positive factors that reasonably offset the shorter income history.Examples of positive compensating factors that we like to see (1-3 will generally do it)...Employed in same line of work.Makes sense from a common sense perspective, like someone is returning to the workforce after being a stay at home parent for a while.Recently finished some training or education program that lines up with the new line of work.Low DTI.Great credit.Income trending upwards. 

My CS fluctuates from 780 to 800.  

If you're in the short game trying to capitalize on market fluctuations or appreciation, the risk is that you might buy at the top of the market and get stuck overpaying with few exit options.if you're playing the (really) long game, then it matters much less.

Because, the South Florida market, sell prices fluctuate so wildly compared to relatively stable cash flow markets like the mid-west. 

A great deal will insulate you to a large degree from any short term market fluctuations ... in fact, that is the very definition that I use to analyze if I have in fact found a great deal ...

Hi guys,I have a question about financing...Just considering options... say your wife has a W2 income from her job and you have a W2 income from your own S-Corp(and your business has been around for at least 10 years but with fluctuating W2 income) and then your wife considers taking a break from her W2 income to recover thoroughly from her illness... outside of the W2 income we do have $30k-$40k cashflow from existing rentals.How hard would it be for you to get conventional financing with this scenario (losing a more consistent W2 income - even though her W2 is lower than yours) to finance our SFHs purchases?

According to Dave Ramsey put it in a mutual fund it should gain 12% but can fluctuate.