I have worked really hard over the past decade to position myself to begin to build my portfolio. 

Back then we were getting 1% positive carry e.g.

I am in a pretty similar position. 

If you do have enough other income then you dont even need to lease out this property to start your refinance.However if you dont have enough income to qualify with no rental income offset then yes you will need to obtain your lease(s) and security deposit + 1st months rents deposited before you can utilize 75% of this gross income - your monthly PITIA payment (in terms of qualification on this property refinance.So all in all Id make sure what your current debt to income position is first of all (DTI) and then strategize to see if you even need the leases at all.

My suggestion to any one that are first time real estate investor in fix & flip, or planning to hold property for rentals, is to learn or read, understand about real estate financing first, build your assets and network or partner withsome has completed some projects in fix & flip and has some rental properties with positive cash flow within your immediate area before dving in to any project by youyrself.

We pride ourselves in keeping the forums positive, helpful, and focused on real estate (please, no politics, religion, etc.).

If you currently rent for $2,500 and take the $1,750; you have additional positive cash flow of $750 for your rent situation.Have you thoroughly looked over the capex potential issues? 

The 1 mile income radius could be misleading in either way to the positive or negative if the property is on the right or wrong "side of the tracks" so to speak.The 80% occupancy, if it's solely due to the mismanagement of the current owner could be an opportunity. 

I manage it daily to update base pricing and see what the market is doing, but I wholeheartedly recommend if you want to maximize revenue and get to maximum capacity.Mindy @Collin Hays I respect your position and for sure everyone should run their biz according to their own values. 

To clarify, I want help on figuring out how to pencil a deal that has positive cash flow.