@Michael Baradell , as mentioned above, the 50% rule is a good guideline.

The requirement wrt trusts seems to be little more than trustor, trustee and beneficiary must be the same natural person at the time of origination, leaving the door open to switch that all around post origination (read creative REI), if I'm reading it right.Of course, these are Fannie/Freddie guidelines, it's not to say originators that sell to Fannie/Freddie can't 'overlay' their own more restrictive guidelines.  

how would you handle a lease option tenant that is not following HOA guidelines, do they get a notice to comply within a certain time or face eviction what?

Conforming means it is underwritten to Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac guidelines.

Hi Jharmaine,When you pool money for real estate investing, you will fall under SEC guidelines and you will need to consult a real estate attorney to ensure that you are compliant.Research syndication in the search column to look up other threads on this topic.Good luck,Chris

Similar neighborhoods, geographic location and distance to main arteries and shopping/business areas;It takes years to gain enough experience to drop into an unknown area to be accurate and you must begin with knowing the area, the market, the economy and sales trends to obtain any accuracy, otherwise it's a guess.Keep reading, best thing is to go to appraisal sites and forums and just lurk, read the guidelines and the problems they have in the field. :)

May just have to gamble or if that is too stressful, go back to the laminate flooring (cardboard plan) .

I bought a few as a highly speculative investment/gamble with some extra cash I had, and has been a wild ride.

I said I was not sure she would meet the application guidelines.

You will probably have to call around and look to find someone who will do it, but apparently it is beginning to happen.What he means is he can't do it because of his underwriting guidelines, which were what everyone used until recently.