Through 2013 the Mortgage Debt Relief Act protected owner occupants but that expired at the end of last year so I've yet to see how that's going to effect sellers this year.

I have always been interested in real estate, but was discouraged during the economic downturn and lack of education about real estate investing.I want to begin with earned income methods to pay off some debt, then use the money from earned income methods to fund passive income methods.I look forward to networking and learning from all of you!!

My first property, I worked with someone who had no kids, no debt, and a good amount of savings and was tired of the <1% return in the bank.

The land trust keeps anyone from attaching the property for his personal debts, as well as puts a third party in charge of signing over docs so neither of you can do stuff without the other.

Also below are links about some Detroit's current funding and investment and where its going.Detroit to get $300 million in federal help - Sep. 27, 2013 - CNN Moneyhttp://money.cnn.com/2013/09/27/news/economy/detroit-federal-help/Ford Foundation donates money to help Detroit manage its federal grantshttp://michiganradio.org/post/ford-foundation-donates-money-help-detroit-manage-its-federal-grantsBill Pulte: From Home Builder to Detroit's Unlikely Blight Busterhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2013/10/09/bill-pulte-detroits-unlikely-blight-buster/Gilbert: Tear Down All Of Detroit’s Abandoned Homes At Oncehttp://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/10/01/gilbert-tear-down-all-of-detroits-abandoned-homes-at-once/Plan to eliminate blight in Detroit may top $1 billion, task force sayshttp://www.freep.com/article/20131212/BUSINESS06/312120137/Detroit-blight-Quicken-GilbertDetroit bankruptcy judge orders company to stop collecting casino revenue (Access to about $180 million a year that was flowing to creditors from its casinos)http://whtc.com/news/articles/2013/aug/29/detroit-bankruptcy-judge-orders-company-to-stop-collecting-casino-revenue/http://www.freep.com/article/20130903/NEWS01/309030148/Kevyn-Orr-William-Buckfire-depositions-Detroit-bankruptcyFederal, Foundation, City and Corporate Investment Areas in Detroithttp://datadrivendetroit.org/web_ftp/Data_Mapping/InvestmentAreas.pdfThe Auto Industry Bailouthttp://useconomy.about.com/od/criticalssues/a/auto_bailout.htm

When I do a Profit & Loss by Class, I get all the breakdown I need, It just shows Debt repayment as a profit, which won't buy me dinner.

As long as we have 20% down for the property and no other debts what would our chances be of owning a home outside of PA?

There will allows be inconsistency in underwriting and one lender may consider your liquidity a little higher than another based on their underwriting criteria and you'll come out with different global debt coverage ratios.

Another factor the look at is DTI (debt to income) https://www.credit.com/calculators/dti/If you go FHA you must live there for 1 year.

First, is your personal rate: NOI/Total Debt (current or future) which gives you certain metrics, and second (more important IMO) the MARKET cap rate, which tells you at what rate an investor in that area would (theoretically) make a purchase.