The bank initially pre-qualified them for the loan but then, when it went to underwriting, it was a big fat no because of the no history. 

A good rental reference or two would put my mind to ease, that and of course a fat security deposit.

Originally posted by @Nicolas Beaujean:@Jay HinrichsLOL, two hours ago I didn't like you-now I do hang around BP long enough and you too will be offered a 20mil loan at 3% and you dont even have to make payments.Just have to send 25k to buy an insurance policy that the lender will be repaid  :)  you Render Fat  not loans !!!

Phillip Gonzales I know nothing about you other than what you have divulged in your message here but to me this is the same no-win situation as when a woman asks "does this make me look fat?"  

@Gene Hacker is very good friend, who has a thorough understanding of economics.  

James, while you may think of yourself as making it, how do you compare now with an officer in service with full benefits, I doubt you are doing as well as you may think at your age, but you might be doing better. what you kids don't understand is that 20 years is almost a blink of the eye, retiting at 41, you are still a young man, probably less than half your life if you have good genes.

When I'm "fat" (good cashflow) I'm inclined to look at acquiring High Appreciation/Low Cashflow properties.When I need cashflow I tend to look for Lower Appreciating/Positive Cashflow Real Estate.Then there's my decision to:Buy, Fix-up, Sell?

Originally posted by @Gene Maryushenko:What does everyone think of creating a website to house larger, crisper, brighter images?

That being said, these forums ought to be only a beginning of your real estate education as there's no substitute for books, real estate clubs (for inspiration), topic-specific training (later) and experience.If you posess the curse of the 'engineering gene' beware of any tendency to want to over-analyze.

I am working on about a 10k margin, I know thats not fat enough for most of you but if I can break even and gain the knowledge, then for a first flip it might be a win.