I'm looking in the Denver area and a lot of the buildings are fairly old (50+ years).

If staged correctly I could split the master into both a sleeping space and fairly large sitting/office area.

You may be able to count on fairly consistent numbers similar to what was given, but you have to be prepared to have 0 or negative cash flow every now and again when a big ticket item happens like the tenant who not only needs to be evicted but destroys the apartment before he goes.

The borrower has to have skin in the game.I don't think you will have much success asking lenders to lend on appraised value and essentially allow buyers to purchase no money out of pocket.

Properties that are in good shape and priced right tend to sell fairly quickly.

Which I think will be fairly soon.

Buyers are paying full retail IF the property looks awesome, appliances are included, the roof is on the front half of its lifespan, A/C and Furnance and Hot Water tank are fairly new.

On the LTV side you need to have enough room to sell fairly quickly, and cover the costs of that sale, for emergencies or if you need to raise cash for better opportunities.Also, it's not always the LTV.

Im thinking of putting maybe half of it in stocks and other half in real estate.In bangkok, a newly built mid-end condo, with modern facilities, carparks,for a 1 bed, 40 sqm in good location, fairly near sky train and fully furnished is maybe around 3m-4m baht. agency says i cud get around 22k-25k baht a month but im guessing its prob more like 15k-20k baht. most Thai wages will not be able to afford the rent, but its ideal for expats working in bkk. so the return is maybe around 6% before all costs, vacancy periods and appreciation/depreciation.ive been reading a lot of negative and pessimistic views about condo as a buy-to-let especially in bkk. there r so many condos in bkk and many being built as land is not scarce yet cos old buildings can be cleared and new projects started easy. and other factors i dont know. also traffic is a nightmare and the condos that are centrally located (and most expensive) have one of the worst traffics (altho it wud prob be near sky train or underground which would be ok for expats.keep in mind that i ll be paying in lump sum, wouldnt mind to gain some real estate exposure (im fairly interested in the industry),do you think its worth it to buy a condo in bkk as a buy-to-let?

This seems fair to me given that you are both on the same playing field with dollars invested.