Especially considering that single family homes of similar size in the immediate area are going in the $ 380,000 to $ 400,000 range.

You will see a very wide range of product offerings in terms of loan-term, amortization, recourse, interest rates, LTV,  interest-only periods, and pre-payment penalties.

And to others' points, most new or mid-range investors treat agents like rotating bobbleheads and call and say I have X money, find me an investment that works.

I expect rates to drop to the 1%-2% range (as in Europe) and stay there for a long time.Once the economy slows down, whenever that will be, interest rate will have nowhere but to go down.

The costs are within the range you outlined above and depend how complicated the deal is.

If it's not a good investment property the numbers will tell you.Jaron,We brought the present home in 2012 as our first home.Its a new construction.I did run the numbers on the existing home.As I mentioned we paid 212k in 2012.Took an FHA and refinanced to conventional a few yrs later.(3.5% for 30 yrs Balance on mortgage 160k).Mortgage runs to 1200/month.Our property can be rented out as is for 2000/month.Its a 4 bed 3 bath and rents in our community start with 2000 range for our sq footage.I want to pay off this house asap in next 5-6 yrs and free up money to invest in another house.The houses in our community are in 450k+ range.Hubby is preapproved is not the reason for another house.The other house is right opposite to our community  and is a 5 min walk from our house.So its not a big move.Except that I want to move closer to our kids friends.Our lender metioned Heloc maybe a good choice for further investments.I want to explore Home Equity Loan route to be safer.I am still a layman in Heloc route and dont want to burn fingers.Any advice.P.S.What is COC? 

Divide the search up into segments for your analysis, such as:Studio only, 1 bed, 2 bed, 3 bedPrice range $500-600, $601-700…$1,201-1.300 etcMake a little grid so you see how many units are available in each range.

Every agent I called has told me they'll get back to me, phone still hasn't rang. 

Moderate rehabs with comps nearby selling in the mid $500k range. 

. - if you are open to venturing outside DFW (north) and look northeast to Greenville (red hot) or Caddo Mills (just outside Greenville) you can find cash flowing properties in the $200-$225k range.