It's just a piece of paper"Massachusetts law deals very clearly with this - and prohibits it.From MA Law (emphasis is mine): "''Real estate broker'', hereinafter referred to as broker, any person who for another person and for a fee, commission or other valuable consideration, or with the intention or in the expectation or upon the promise of receiving or collecting a fee, commission or other valuable consideration, does any of the following: sells, exchanges, purchases, rents or leases, or negotiates, or offers, attempts or agrees to negotiate the sale, exchange, purchase, rental or leasing of any real estate, or lists or offers, attempts or agrees to list any real estate, or buys or offers to buy, sells or offers to sell or otherwise deals in options on real estate,..."

Properties with newer roofs and mechanicals are coveted.  

What about the mechanicals inside the house- is this all split out?  

If banks want to create a formal mechanism they call an "official" appraisal and then license and regulate that process, great.

How does that stand up to 30 years of negative CF waiting for your net return of $54k.Oh, and that appreciation you mentioned, happens the same whether the property is positive, or negative CF.over 30 years of owning it you will have to replace all thing mechanical probably 2 roofs  windows etc etc. you will be in it way more than 46k.. most folks totally underestimate what it cost long term to own these homes that are already 30 or 40 years old.this may work with a brand new brick home that you keep on top of and in an area with no frost thaw frost thaw  no thunderstorms no wind etc..  

Now you're pivoting away from the banal mechanics of digital record-keeping to theology: you invoke a lack of Jesus as what's wrong with America.

Even single families can generate this return but it may be a bit more challenging but not impossible if you do your  due diligence, and again buy right....Another option is Condos which typically give you less headaches to worry about as the HOA is responsible for all exterior and usually the mechanicals......I have a portfolio of single & multi families as well as Condos here in NJ that I self manage.

This is in a marginal area at the C/C- area. for a 3/2 house that is an advanced/mechanical rehab. project.So what have investors been doing in this market?

I learned how to be on time , do my job and picked up mechanics when things were slow , the mechanics taught us .

The mechanism to do both the 1301 and the121 (if you have more than $500K of gain) is to live in your primary for a couple of years and then move out and rent it.