Unless the seller is desperate to get out of the deal they are not going to give you a 30yr/4%/0 down.

you are offering to lend them 255,000 with only 2% down....no freakin way i'm doing that without seeing credit and tax returns..make sure you get as much proof as possible..it's better to hold out for the best possible buyer than to get desperate and put somebody in the house...this will cause more trouble when you have to foreclose on them...

Now (divorced) and carrying the PITI+HOA solo, I am desperately missing that second source of income and the perks that come with it.

I am aware of that possibility, but at the same time, the buyers have been relocated and are pretty desperate for a new place, and they've been extraordinarily easy to work with.

So, again IMHO, the scales tip to this being a way to extract a few grand from a desperate homeowner.Short sales fall into a couple of categories.

Unless you are renting to desperate people, nobody prefers a crap hole.

I am sure this has happened to you but many clients you work with over the years end up being investment partners its the private money that so many of these folks on BP are desperately seeking..  

After a direct mailing campaign of STRICTLY mobiles I was flooded with sellers who were desperate to sell.

Or is it better to buy a rundown, high expense, lower than 85% occupancy, differed maintenance, etc... at a higher cap (12 - 14 cap) from a desperate Californian who got in not knowing what he was getting into (yeah yeah, I know their not all from Cali, sorry... it just seems like a large portion of burnout landlords of this type are).

Desperate seller prices it at 275k and the fool price it lower than that.