Several government foreclosures (HUD, Fannie mae, Freddie mac and possibly VA homes) have a two week priority period for owner occupants and if you can keep an eye on these sites and pull the trigger when there is a property with equity it might be a better way to capitalize on your housing than simply trying to capture rent check each month.

Make sure that the contractor isn't going to ask YOU to pull permits (Some contractors try this, despite the fact that it is very illegal in Georgia for a homeowner to pull permits unless they are an owner occupant, and even then there are often local restrictions as to what kind of work they can perform)Get quotes from 3 different contractors that WEREN'T recommended to you by the wholesaler.

I really want to buy a duplex as my first investment (owner occupant) but have been having throughts of buying a stable college rental instead.

Michael HeisterkampIf you plan to finance as an owner occupant you will have to live in them for more than 4-5 months.

Define "guest" and how long they stay.list all occupants including children and relativesIn MD and possibly other states, and additional moneys due under lease are "Due as additional rent" - this allows you to go to rent court for fines.pet policy - what happens when they get a pet after moving in?

My mentor encouraged me to look into owner-occupancy financing as an option.

They renovate clean it up put tenants in, and then within four to six month of occupancy and history, they go to the bank and refinance it and get all their money back.

Both markets have been great, but inventory is definitely thinning out.I like Cleveland because I can still find 15 caps and better, and it's a good rental market with well run buildings easily running at 90%+ occupancy.

But I'm comfortable that with a 93% occupancy average, I will still come out ahead at $550 a month on the cash flow.$350 might be a little on the low end so depending on the house type (built in 90's yes, built in 50's no), the equity capture, etc, I might pass on $350 or I might say yes to $350.But I just think that a buy and hold investor needs to be most concerned with cash flow and this should give you a solid way to compare apples to apples.Here's one example of a deal I just closed on two months ago that isn't really a great house but it is a great cash flow house.3/2 ,1450 sq ft but a much older home (50's).

Higher occupancy due to the close proximity to Wilmington.