Again, an FHA loan allows for the Seller of the duplex to contibute up to 6.00% towards your closing costs/prepaid expenses, so you can take that into consideration with the price your willing to pay (ie. higher price & less out of pocket for you).If you were in TX I could help, but if not, talk to a local mortgage banker/broker and they can get you set up.One more item, if your current residence is financed by FHA then you can't do this as your only allowed to have one FHA loan at a time with very few permitted exceptions, of which your situation does not fall under.

Does this lump sum need to be 'seasoned' or because it would be written up as prepaid rent a bank would be more willing to write up the mortgage?

That's just for the actual costs, not prepaids or loan points.

Last time one of my college tenants wanted to bail early his pop pre-paid the rest of the rent, with the understanding that if I could re-rent before the end of the lease I would refund the balance.If you don't have a parental guarantee and the students remain local, take 'em to magistrate's court and evict 'em for nonpayment.

Some of those are prepaid expenses, like taxes and insurance.

Anyway, he had people prepaid for these conferences and still only had 10% of people dial in.

Any and all detailed expenses statements should include a breakdown of all current staffing, including position/title, annual wages, full or part time status, and if such staffing is seasonal then a breakdown of all such employees and the number of months worked.e) Certified copies of all tenant rent rolls, including a schedule reflecting any amounts set aside as pre-paid rent, or any amount set aside as a tenant inducement, or concessions, together with the amount of any and all security deposits held by Seller or its agent.f) Copies of all maintenance agreements and all other vendor contracts, with respect to the operation of the real estate improvements located on the Property;g) Copies of any and all utility service contracts, availability and capacity letters from the appropriate authorities concerning water, waste water, electricity, gas, garbage disposal and collection and other municipal utilities and/or services;h) A preliminary title insurance report ("Title Report") for the Property issued by a title insurance company selected by Seller and acceptable to Buyer at Seller's sole cost andexpense, showing the status of record title to the Land and Improvements, along with legible copies of all recorded documents referred to in the preliminary title insurancereport.

On the $5,000 closing cost, it was $2,800 for lender closing fees; $1,355 for closing agent, and $1,500 in estimated prepaids/reserves.

Don't be intimidated by the attorneys on the other side, the only thing a retainer means is that they have been pre-paid, possibly at a lower rate, and they have a clock ticking away.

Some of the big items are the lenders title policy (if you take out a loan), the loan origination fees, and the prepaid taxes and insurance.An insurance agent can give you an accurate price for insurance.