Well, it's probably different for mortgage lending than commercial.When I looked at a PFS, I'm looking to see what it added in terms of adding strength to a guaranty.

It was doing so well in terms of rents and appreciation that we built 3 more.The vacation rental market fell off of a cliff in the Fall of 2007 as the price of gas climbed to $4 per gallon.

depends what you want each month in terms of cashflow...most here believe in the 50% rule and the 100/door profit per month...this will help you figure out your maximum monthly payment on a mortgage...then run that with a financial calculator to know your max offer...assume 100% financing so you're not paying for cashflow in the form of a downpayment...if you don't know what loan terms a bank would offer you, 20 year amortization and 7% interest rate would be a good starting point for calculations....so, if you have a property that you think will rent for 700/month, divide that by 2 for the 50% rule, and then subtract out your 100 dollar profit..the rest is your monthly payment....so....700/2 =350 350-100=250 using a financial calculator, for a 250/month payment at 7% interest, and 20 year term, your max offer would be 32,245....hope that helps

One of the "Profit Paradoxes" as I like to call them in terms of finding good, solid, cash buyers to work with has been this..."

Think of it in terms of accounting rules: Held-to-maturity securities are not marked to market but trading securities are - therefore Vikram and JScott are best served by incorprating market values and accounting for transaction costs to determine net realizeable proceeds.

I want to give him BIG incentives to move when he says - in terms of big penalties and costs to him if he doesn't, but the bottom line is I'm still going to have high costs one way or the other if he doesn't move out as planned, so any suggestions are appreciated.

That is what I am needing, HOW can you get screwed in such a setting, so I can cover all of those potential basis.Not talking about just making a dumb purchase in terms of investment.

Actually, the best way, IMO, is to hold title in a land trust, with you (or your LLC) as a beneficiary.An LLC gives you liability protection, but no privacy in terms of ownership.A land trust gives you privacy.So, a land trust with a 3rd party trustee and an LLC as the beneficiary gives one an extra degree of privacy along with protection.

Depends on how motivated the seller is.But yes, at a quick glance, this is not a deal.Figure out what your time is worth to you, in terms of how much you want in your pocket per unit per month.

Not much change in terms of moderation, IMO.