thanks for the info.heres a great r.e. info site. www.recenter.tamu.eduim a broker in College Station Texas.folks are coming here from all over because of the great values on property and Texas A&M University.you can search up to date listings from my mls site. type mikecutler.bcs.mlxchange.com or just click on my www icon at this site.i would be curious to compare foreclosure sales there with regular sales here.we have very few foreclosures in our area and usually they have structural problems or liens etc.I love to pay referrals (25%) for folks headed this way.Mike

He sels books for about $30/ea on different elements of real estate investing like AGGRESSIVE TAX AVOIDANCE, etc.

I would have an appraiser or possibly a Realtor work up a comparable rent schedule on your house to find out what the market rent is in your area.

I left off an important element here.

No comparable rents...

If it has poor equity, you don't want it anyways (unless doing a short sale).Qustion #4: There are special circumstances (such as short sales and rehabbing) that give an investor a comparative advantage over the the home owner and are where the investor adds value.

With fair credit you should be able to put together a no money down transaction and afford payments comparable to your current rent.Good luck.

I am assuming you would compare everything to a risk-free type investment like a CD or Savings Account and additionally maybe something like a mutual index fund for your analysis.For me, I believe I would normally pay somewhere between 700-900 on rent not including utilities.

Ask for references, portfolios, and compare quotes.

I guess the demand was pretty high and I probably could have gotten $1100, even though that would have been more than others were asking for comparable places.