It's the wild west in this investment space, and in the downturn the banks have lost their butts on these small-time landlords holding 1-4 unit properties.So yes, aside from credit scores, reserves, and job history, the banks want borrowers to have some proven experience in order to count the rental income.

Tennant landlord laws can vary wildly from state to state so you need a local with experience.Money upfront shouldn't be a bad thing if handled correctly.  

I'd love to see the issues approached differently, I don't endorse the wild west as I spent too many hours of my life fixing screw ups in seller financing, admittedly, more unintentional screw ups than intentional I'd say.

OTOH, he also claimed watching "Girls Gone Wild" could be counted toward your hours for "real estate professional" since those girls could end up being your tenants.

Mike: The rental market in general is wild in Iowa City.

I consider a Class A example to be an SFR or apt within 3 or 4 blocks from the beach or on the bluffs overlooking the wild life sanctuary which has top notch fashion up grades. 

There's way too many variables and it appears the seller may be a wild card.

It's wild but sfr's are getting cheaper per unit than multi's, which really should not be the case but leads to higher profits on holding sfr's.

After seeing the statute, looks to me like investors should see if the could get with a non-profit that is involved with low-mod housing, the Texas Home Investment Program....probably a grant program, if not otherwise restricted.Those saying they only do commercial as they loan to investors or contractors, well, there is no specific exemption to commercial there, defined as any residential home, being property oriented, I do see the argument both ways, I'd tend to look at the bigger picture, a contractor in construction would be commercial, but to an investor who allowed a wrap or lease/option (6 month limit in Tx.) with a homebuyer assuming that loan , may not fly, certainly not after 5.Lastly, my above post concerning prudent lending, I'll guarantee you that exemption at 5 is not a license to do charge high rates, set early balloons or offer loans without any qualifying due diligence, don't need rare occassions and wild scenarios to demonstrate the need for fair and prudent conduct or the need to live in fear while doing RE.

Properties for development you typically need to front the land and entitlement costs.Some wild/well connected folks put the property under contract, get the engineers to front their design/entitlement costs, and then get builders to contract for the finished lots.