It happens.Recommend doing a thorough review of the area for actual tenant potential. - Build a profile of available tenant pool to be sure you understand their expected performance. - You don't want to rehab your property to Class A standards, but only have Class B & C tenants to choose from:(- How many rentals are in the area, where do the tenants come from?

I've never actually heard of a 3-2-1 buydown.

The number usually varies from 10-20% depending on credit score, property analysis, etc.Some lenders will work with any level of investor experience, credit scores as low as 660 and can close in as little as 10 days (there are loan options for 640-660 credit scores- they require 20% down).Another good thing is interest only and 6-24 month loan terms- you can refinance by selling or refinancing to a long term DSCR rental property loan at any time once you complete the rehab.Once the property is ready you can sell it or if you want to keep the property as a long term investment, you can underwrite the loan based on your income /debt to income (DTI) ratios or you can go the DSCR route where the loan is underwritten based on the actual or market rents from the appraisal.DSCR loans won't use your income to underwrite the loan.DSCR loans are based off of down payment, credit score and either actual or market rents so it helps to supercharge an investor's real estate goals and net worth.Here's a bit more in detail about how rates are calculated for DSCR loans:1.

I'm not asking about the actual fees.

But if you’re fixing it up you might actually increase the taxes even higher. 

All of the things you are stating - like an Air BNB listing, actual rental, postings for rent, etc are great tools to reinforce your intent and use as investment. 

I'm surprised by that value and would have thought the actual value is closer to the assessed value of around 1.5x the value of my lot -- the neighboring lot is identical but has a building and businesses on it, and is appraised at just $100k more than what their appraisal shows for the unimproved lot. 

Can appreciation of the property be used towards a down payment at a later date?

Then their sq ft occupancy might be say 90% occupancy.Without seeing the actual data I can’t tell.  

yes I been to the area twice, actually own 2 properties there but never lived there before, thanks for your response!