(I made sure he understood what I was asking)So, typically you would Rent then Refinance, right?

I also understood that rather than paying them $40-50k, I could probably do better to invest in a property and learn by doing.I recommend attending local REIA's meetings.

@John Coon Understood, the tenant is fine.

You need to also take care of the following. 1.Fixing up a vacant rental so it can be rented out again.a.We had handy men to do most of this, but with 40 rentals my husband and I had to pitch in a do the labor ourselves as well.b.I would paint the house and garages.c.Husband would fix the repairs inside2.I would take care of the tenants.This entaileda.Taking care of advertising the homes (usually we had more than one vacancy at a time)b.Taking phone calls and screening tenantsc.Scheduling open housesd.Staging the housee.Interviewing the applicantsf.Making sure I double checked their application formsi.Criteriaii.Employersiii.Verifying funds and income3.Typing up the lease and making sure they understood the lease4.Then making sure the Tenants abided by the lease agreement5.Paid their rent on time6.And sent that Notice to Quit for Non Payment of Rent the very first day rent is late.On top of that I did my own evictions and I never lost a case and I dealt with the 36th District Court in Detroit.I won because I covered my butt by having everything in writing.I documented everything.Every phone call I made to them and every phone call they made to me.I never complained to a tenant because they called regarding a repair.I listened when they told me they couldn’t pay their rent, but even though I understood their problem, I made them pay their rent anyway.Landlording is about making tough decision and doing things you don’t like to have to do.Landlording is a Business.You have to not LOVE YOUR HOUSE.I can’t stress this enough.If you don’t know or understand that this is a business of evictions, damages, and injustices, and fixing this house up over and over again, you aren’t going to be happy let alone successful.How I wish I could be there for every new investor to help them understand what it’s like to be a landlord BEFORE YOU INVEST.But I can’t and that’s really a shame because it something every new investor should dig into before they invest.One last thing.

That is where i may have missed the boat entirely ha ha.I understood that if you need say a 20% down payment for bank financing on a $500k home.... that would be $100k. 

Understood.

Understood, per the example I provided, how can I determine what the arrears are if the seller/broker does not provide that information?

I hadn't understood the rules yet.

She was apprehensive but supportive and understood where this fit into our long-term goals.

I made sure they understood what contract labor meant and that they had to pay all taxes and social security themselves.  2.