The basic facts of the email are still correct.

These are interesting, because his process will be to check all of the basic components of the house, from the roof to the foundation and everything in between.

That equity is a safety cushion so that you don't find yourself in an upside down situation, where you have a mortgage balance that's higher than what the house is worth.

It's easier, quicker and MORE WORTHWHILE to just study this forum every day (including the archives).OTOH a basic "real estate contracts" course through your local community college would be a good starting point.BTW, I've never taken any courses so I can't speak to the quality/validity of them, but most people that buy the courses never complete them, at least that's what I've concluded from the vast numbers of them gathering dust in closets and under beds.all cash

on properties that aren't even listed on MLS....Now, I understand the basics to the 2%/50% rule.

Basically, I am totally agreeing with Dan:If the deal is too skinny, I'll know right away by the response I get from my top 3 buyers.

:D ) let's face it - the 50% rule is a good basic guideline to use when you are quickly running the numbers on a number of properties to decide whether to spend time trying to buy them.

I'm basically a terms investor.

Assuming that maintenance and repairs will cost 20% of gross rents (I believe this number to be way north of what it will actually cost) we arrive at $1,015 for maintenance and repairs.I will also have an extra $2,000 in a revolving CD ladder as a slush fund to fix whatever Murphy's Law throws at me.So:Gross rents: $5,076Taxes: $701Insurance: $766Debt service: $2520Maintenance and repairs: $1,015Cash Flow: $74I realize this will be basically a wash as far as cash flow for the first year, but I think I have all my bases covered as far as projecting what expenses will be.

Basically I want to purchase notes for myself, rather than brokering them off to another investor.