Ask the people in Florida who now have sky high insurance and mandatory unplanned assessments, how much value having a paid off property is. 

now if you could get a seller to be the bank I get that you could smoke and mirror those deals.. but i would think those would be picked over low value or properties in the worst areas of town etc..   

What this tells me is Raleigh is likely better for long-term, conservative investments due to steady value growth.

Estimates on the homes value are often completely wrong.  

Or if they are doing value-added multifamily, they will show you their hotel experience.

I would be willing to do some value add component/renovations.

However, the suitability of buying and renting out a single-family home in Richmond can depend on various factors, such as market trends, rental demand, and property values (similar case with all markets, really.)Chatting with a local agent in the area can provide very helpful insights into the market, data, and specific neighborhoods.

I am assuming that even if you strucutred it with a higher purchase price (85% of value) and pre-paid rent it would potentially still be frowned upon.

Quote from @John Warren: @Mordechai Chaimovitz cap rates and NOI are commercial real estate terms, and 1-4 units are not really valued in the same way.

Most deals I work, I find that the most inexperienced party in a real estate transaction will end up losing 4-10% of the value of the home in the transaction because they don't know what they are doing.