I plan on contacting local banks/credit unions but am a little worried about getting approval because I am used to traditional mortgage approval guidelines.  

I am using IIP Management and so far have been happy with them. 

I am using conventional financing (20% down) What's up with the appraisals with stipulations?

ex: I keep same job, stay in NJ, will FL bank provide a mortgage for me if i am using the house as a rental property?

They need a lot of work to bring them up to the standard that I am used to (and even to Code...), but no one really does this in these parts of the town.

I like to always pay 20% of down payment on the properties I buy or plan on buying so keep in mind that would be variances.Purchase Price: 120kAcquisition Cost: ~29k (20% down + closing) - assuming no other acquisition cost requiredFinanced Amount: ~91kMortgage Interest: 4%, 30 yrsAppreciation Expectations: ~3% YoY - that's big assumption, you would know your area better.Taxes: ~2% - another assumptionMaintenance including hoa: 4% - may be it is on lower side assuming property is newer and expected rent is from higher earners.Monthly Rent: ~1250Vacancy: ~7%Property Management: ~10%Insurance: ~0.5%Based on my calculatios -Your annual gross income at 93% occupancy: 13950Operating costs -PM - 1500repairs: 3000 (I am using way below the 50% rule)maintenance: 3000 (Hoa: 250*12)insurance: 500 appx (can be lower/higher depending on your liability level)janitorial: 150prop taxes: 2400Total operating expense: 10500Net Income: 3261Debt Service: 458Cashflow: 2803 or 9.7%Based on my another calculation, your total cash flow in 30 yrs would be appx 84k, inflation adjusted in future as of today's value at 52k.With the appreciation expectation and inflation mentioned above, based on my calculation the total profit after 30 yrs in today's value would be appx 200k.Not sure if you wanted all this from a newbie with tons of assumptions..but oh well, there you have it at least from my perspective.

I am estimating $33,000 annually.For reserves, I am using $250 per unit per year, or about $3,250 per year.

They do this because they have to pay fees based on a % of the final bid......so this way they discourage bidders from running the price up to $150 k before they “buy it back”.It was amusing, back when the auctions were live, newbies would show up thinking they were going to buy all these houses for $200, because they saw the “published” price for all these foreclosures “selling for $100”.

I am using postcard mania for my bulk orders, if you are with them for awhile they email out specials and have great customer service. 

I just finished watching a recent BP webinar about finding deals in a competitive market, but now I'm willing to talk to others specifically in this market to see what they have done.Also, I'm wondering how can I be taken more seriously if I'm looking for REOs and am using financing.