Everyone has different risk tolerances; in my market I could lose a deal by trying to get contractors access and waiting for bids to come back.

If you have a policy in place that charges higher rents for older homes that provides an incentive to have newer homes, that might fly as a justification.

Yes 5% down is only owner occupants as of 11/16/13.For Non owner the min is 10% down but that only applies to SFR not 2-4 units.The mortgage insurance policy through Homepath can be very expensive especially for non owner with 10% down around 3-4 points cost either in cash or about .5% more in rate (estimated or a combination thereof).

Depending on your risk tolerance and skill level you may chose to:- Not cash out refinance as much to leave more cash flow or margin of error so your property still cash flows with enough to cover during rainy day (med risk - med leverage) ,- Refinance just enough to payoff the prior investor (least risk/lower leverage)- Or cash out as much as you can till the point your monthly cash flow is lower or near break even (max risk/max leverage), but ideally you bought so low that even if you get out the most allowable by conventional guidelines you'll still be cash flow positive each monthThe good part is the leverage were discussing is a 30 year fixed (if using agency financing) and predictable so you can focus on other variables.Good Luck~

Instead of forcing eviction due to the dog or not renewing lease when it ends in 3 months, I'm considering offering the tenant the option to purchase a canine liability insurance policy.

So I allocate between those items.Steve, not clear what you meant, you're probably getting busy, LOLDid you mean to say if he would have the policy if he didn't have RE to call it a personal expense?

I guess the question will be, If we just wait to list it, are we going to find more than 5% of qualified buyers who will balk at the finish out - say, want Sub Zero and a whole house compter system and all that.

Do you get a builders risk insurance policy or anything like that/

Just keep in mind, even if your not in a flood zone, insurance doesnt pay for floods unless its a flood insurance policy.

It's a short sale, unless you want to take it sub2, fix it up, and eat the negative cash flow for 15 years or so til it gets to zero equity.