The cash flow potential is very attractive and the townhome is at a good price.

Hagerstown is attractive to investors due to the low entry price points and high cap rates but understand it is a cash flow only type area. 

The deal would have to be attractive enough for them to invest in you.  

.- other than reducing seller's taxable income, what are other reasons why this option might be attractive.- what kind of rates have you negotiated.Share your story!

I've been researching sandwich lease options for a little while now and they're pretty attractive, what with the multiple profit centers and whatnot.However, what I can't seem to find is details on what seller situations and/or properties lend themselves well to this particular strategy.

I've done some extensive top-down research on attractive cities for single-family or small multi-family (duplex, triplex) buy & hold rentals and Philadelphia has come out on top.I'm looking to understand what would be a reasonable gross cap-rate to expect when investing in Philadelphia given a budget of $150K - $200K.

That way you can attract wholesalers to sell their deals to you first.Sean

If not, you might have to drop a few thousand at IKEA, but if you could keep it rented to tourists, it's quite possible you make more than the mortgage and help to cover the furnishings expense.

Are there suburbs that are attractive? 

Not sure if this will be attractive to a lender now that my savings are much lower and my credit card debt is higher.