It is:Gross rents x 50% = Cash Flow before debt service (the 50% includes taxes, insurance, property management, utilities paid for by owner, maintenance, vacancies, etc).Once you have that number, subtract your debt service payment (principal and interest), and you will have the cash flow.Without the actual rents or your loan details, it's hard to provide an accurate example.

My DTI is low, with almost 0 debt(byproduct of being obsesive over credit score)@Brandon Turner I read that and probably 50 other blogs you wrote.

Hard assets will be the place to be, real estate and gold, and if you can finance RE with a modest amount of low fixed-rate debt (no more than 65% LTV to ensure staying cash flow positive in the coming carnage), then all the better.1996 21.2%1997 31.3%1998 23.4%1999 23.6%2000 -10.9%2001 -11.0%2002 -20.9%2003 31.6%2004 12.5%2005 6.4%2006 15.8%2007 5.6%2008 -37.2%2009 28.3%2010 17.2%2011 1.0%2012 16.1%6/28/13 YTD 14.0%

No they arent really, and the appraisal is critical to all deals, single family to multi-family.Typically you wont get credit for the rents that are coming in on the new purchase to be counted to offset your debt ratio unless you can prove a 2 year history of managing rentals on your tax return, so you will have to be within debt ratio guidelines without counting that income.

Keep the land, raise debt against it, and use the proceeds of that debt to invest elsewhere.

Eliminating the deficiency is more important than $3,000 cash for keys.

Which is where accidental landlords go wrong by letting in some professional renter.I use http://www.ctcredit.net Everyone has low fico and tons of debt.

Though its time to pay down some debt, plus I have 2 young children...I really need to just sit back for now and enjoy my summer with my family.

You do have to consider cost versus benefit more than ever these days with tuition rising and student loans being nondischargeable debt, but if you're able to get grants, scholarships, etc., it's worth it.

Perhaps the buyer can identify where the closing of the first refinance was done, and maybe the closing agent can show some documentation that the lien holder of the first was wired funds to cover the debt owed.