@Alex WongAppraisal and credit report fees should be added to basis and depreciated over the IRS prescribed life.

The right buys can really be life’s changing!

@Whitney R. you can do what you want, it's your life, but I'm telling you $50-$100 over your mortgage is not going to cover one plumber visit or one HVAC repair.

The house isn't going anywhere, so handle the IRS and get them out of your life, then move forward with a traditional loan.

well first off this being a landlord site.. and a positive cash flow site generally speaking.. most will tell you are nuts to buy this.however if you can get the property to just about break even maybe lose 100 a month or so and you have a prime Socal asset that someone else is paying off your mortgage and you think rents can go up a little.and you can EAISLY self manage based on quality of the unit .. incredible tight rental market.. that mitigates a lot of land lord issues.I mean whats the alternative you go 1000 miles away to make 100 or 200 a month.. is that positive cash flow going to change your life..is 100 a month negative going to change your life.now this is an extreme.. but i owned a home in Palo Alto that i chose to sell back in 91 because it would have been 300 a month negative.. well that negative within 36 months would have been positive.. and i sold for 500k and today that home is worth 3 million.... and once it got positive it probably would have been positive up to 2 to 3k a month coming into the 2010's.... and someone else would have paid for my home.. plus grade A tenants at all times.. being prime Palo Alto.so thats one extreme.. its really only in low to no appreciating markets with tougher tenant bases that turn a bunch that positive cash flow becomes more acute or for those that want to one day live on their cash flow and be in the business of landlording.. thereby acquiring 50 to 100 doors. 

I'm at a turning point in my life right now where I have an opportunity to really set myself up for financial success long term. 

I have a job, so not really trying to live life off the cash flow.

Life happens.

You would be amazed how much of your life would become an expense / write off. 

($600k over 27.5 year asset life)2.