I find that the acquisition price goes way down but the rents don't go down that much in my area.

I've made offers on several short sales in the past but never actually bought one.I've been told to put language in the contract to the effect of "property will be delivered vacant and all of owner/occupants' or tenants belonging will be removed before closing date".What about the final walkthrough?

The criteria for a flip needs to be based on the difference between the purchase price + rehab + holding + selling expenses and the final selling price, not just the original purchase price you have mentioned in your posts.

I've finally got a confirmation deadline to close on the property -12/11/11.

Not sure this is in the right forum but, I finally finished my remodel after a little over a year, mainly worked on it in my spare time/weekends.http://specialtyceilings.com/wordpress/I bought it for 22k and put 8.5k into it.Hoping to rent it for 750-800.I have some before pictures somewhere, i'll try to find them, but basically new everything except roof.Let me know what you think, this will be my second rental.

In regards to your final statement, I am a few months away from converting my basement into a legal dwelling for me to move in while I rent out upstairs to cover more than 80% of my mortgage.

The sale is not FINAL and this WILL get messy....

We've found it much more lucrative funding the acquisition, rehab, and sale of properties.

It took me awhile before I finally found a great agent that was willing to work with me and let me insure it for what I could acquire it for.

These are new developments so it comes around a year later when it finally causes a backup or overflow.