In the end we have a home that we love but we are under no illusion that it is an investment.

Thanks ill use your instead

For me it is important to know which pieces are working and have the illusion of a local presents in the market.

The vision of "freedom" and "work for yourself" is an illusion for most in the short term and is only realized after a lot of struggle.

Trust me on this, I have no illusions about who the listing agent is representing.  

I have no illusions it is a grand slam, but I think it is something I can cut my teeth on and I am excited to move forward.

@Scott ChristopherScott,The largest red flag being waved at your potential project is clearly it’s hard cost.Therefore, before entering the dimension of what I call “the illusion of progress”, and spending time and money with 3rd parties you would be wise to focus on what the value of your deal looks like.Value drives and determines everything else.If your product is for sale, you should take the gross sales and deduct commissions, closing costs AND your target profit margin from it and you will have the total budget amount that you have to work withIf your product is for rent, you should determine its Gross Potential Rental income and use that figure to calculate Net Operating Income and divide it by an appropriate cap rate to determine the project’s capitalized value.Use the same method noted above for the for-sale product to determine the total budget for the rental product.Once you have your total budget, you will also have a very good idea about the project’s performance and feasibility.Hard and site costs typically account for about 70% of total project cost.

If you pay it down, you are using your cash flow to pay down that debt, so that "higher cash flow" is an illusion. 

I think 10% is just an illusion of safety for you.But that is just me.If I had a deal, I rather tell the seller I am cancelling the contract than giving in to greedy people (not accusing you).A good deal is a good deal, and there are legit ways to handle risk... basically eliminating it as much as you can.By doing due diligence on the house.All such things like "skin in the game" does is create a false illusion of safety.This because, me ALSO having something to lose is not making the deal any safer.

It's an illusion.