I am not familiar with the seasonality of Saint Louis.

It was a gentleman who claimed that he was currently paying $900 for a 2 bedroom in the same area. 

I recently came across an older landlord who has several duplexes, SFR and 6-8 unit buildings. 

Some banks require a "seasoning" period with a renter before they will refinance your house. 

The unit is older, built in 1975 and has quite a few small issues, est. about $1000 in repairs.

So correct me if I'm wrong but what does anyone have to be scared of if the following conditions apply in a meltdown1. youre locked into a 30 year conventional or 7 year commercial loan and the banks cannot re-appraise or call in full your loan as long as mortgages are being paid  per the closing docs2. your rents can take 25-35% cut and still break even on all mortages, taxes, and insurance3. you live in a populated and buzzing area where demand has always been heavy and unless a bomb dropped on it (yay insurance) you shouldn't have trouble finding renters4. downturn --> people lose jobs and homes or try to downsize and  turn to renting  (good thing). 5. have solid tenants that have older co-signers (parents, guardians)Am I missing something that the banks can still do to me even if I'm paying my debts on time?

If you pay with cash using an unsecured credit line you get the deed free and clear wIthout any strIngs attached and can borrow against to do a refi after the property Is seasoned

.- no title seasoning on cash out refinances unlike FHA which has 12 months of title seasoning after purchase before you can use market value value or conventional which requires 6 months after acquisition (this applies to CO refinances where you used financing initially to purchase not DFE or delayed financing exception which is an all cash purchase and there is no lien/deed recorded on the property at the time of close), This becomes very handy for  creative RE entrepreneur once you learn how to force equity through adding value to properties you can use VA's no title seasoning advantage to increase the speed at which you move from deal to deal quicker than Conv/FHA- no self sufficiency rule when owner occupying 3-4 unit properties which FHA has (a rule that makes buying 3-4 unit FHA properties in high cost areas nearly impossible) so this a huge plus- use of rental income or other peoples income (OPI) to help you qualify on your 2-4 unit VA purchase (FHA and Conv does allow this too)There's a lot more you can do to optimize your mortgage planning from an investors perspective.With the introduction of the 2018 Tax Cuts, you can structure your taxes strategically to not only greatly reduce the tax impact but also remain bankable to most money sources.

PS - If anyone knows a lender in Florida who doesn't require the 6mo seasoning period for refi based on appraisal, I'd love to know about them :-)

We have a couple of units where the tenant is older and we have the max set at 73 vs. 71 or 72.