On the other side of the coin, if there is too much risk (and shaky profit), then you try to diversify the risk as much as possible. 

Details below: Contracted Purchase Price $275,000 Seller agreed to finance 20% down over 5 years and contribute $2k towards closing costs Building needs no works as the current owner has fully remodeled each unit including new roofs All units currently rented, approved for section 8 (if needed), and is current on all licenses/city inspections20 separate parking spaces that can be rented each month for additional income (currently bringing $150 per month)Coin-op laundry on site bringing in approx $175 per monthSee below for property evaluation: Scheduled Gross Income           $92,880.00Less 5% Vacancy Rate              ($4,644.00)Gross Operating Income            $88,236.00Less Operating Expenses Taxes              ($15,179.00)Insurance        ($2,645.00)Water              ($2,400.00)Sewer/Trash   ($6,000.00) Mngmnt (7%)  ($6,176.52)---plan on self managing but need to allow for it Maintenance   ($4,411.80)Total Operating Expense           ($37,022.32)NOI                                             $51,213.68Cap Rate                                    18.6%Our lender does not want to allow us to use the full 20% from the seller.  

Sure we can give your our coin(s) on the matter but its best to make the final decision after securing professional input of all of the pros and cons for various types of entity structuring and the likes of in whichever State(as laws and costs vary by State)and so forth....Kudos,Mary 

Paul Coin

Another possibility might be adding additional sources of income - renting out the common space/room in the office if you have one, to the tenants for birthday parties etc, vending machines, coin operated laundry, pet fees, pet non refundable pet deposits.  

I quite honestly can see both sides of the coin.

It's usually pretty close to a wash, or when I hold the rate constant it's like 20 basis points (to price, not to rate) or something trivial, coin toss which will win on any given day.I prefer to have my direct lender hat on to my broker hat when working on REI deals (not licensed in your state, don't actually bother PMing me) because your situations are always wonky and I need that direct telephone/IM/email line of communication to the assigned decision making underwriter so I can go over your net loss carryover, or weird Schedule C, or funky deposits, or whatever it is, with her and get it resolved in 5 minutes rather than over the course of 5 days of emailing back and forth through some intermediary. 

I agree with @Brian Gibbons - if you are going to put money into it it is best to have ownership.On the other side of the coin - if i were lease optioning or owner financing a house for someone to execute your plan I would be looking for substantial money down.

There is also a coin op laundry in the basement with 2 washers and 2 dryers that averages about $100 p/month.

The low rates of borrowing are only one cause of the flood of purchasers, the flip side of the same coin is the other reason.