So total out of pocket for me was $277,000 as follows:$245,000 (25% down payment)$32,000 (closing costs...mainly mortgage tax and title)And my payment is $5,804 per month with taxes.

There could be statutory guidelines and diverting from a strictly construed process could create liability on your part.

Sometimes this alignment can be fixed with a simple conversation with a very good attorney and the city's attorney.The real question is will it be worth the expense and potential discrimination that could follow from the city - I have heard stories where the city will have their inspectors get very rigid when they do not get what they want to make the owner's life more difficult. 

We’ve been landlords for over a decade now, and I regret to say I did not follow all of this advice when we were first starting out...instead, we often learned the hard way.

When it comes to tenant screening, I usually always follow the best practices.

The response I received is as follows "Your Appraiser is and was aware that sales 1 and 2 (the two units in my condo that were used for the appraisal) have lower level finish It was included in the GLA  due to the fact that these units were all finished at the time of conversion (the condo was created and basement finished in 2005 when a developer bought the former mansion and split it up into units) with similar material and quality.

@Dianne Pettitt .....following.

And be sure to check with folks other than your family banker (where you carry all your accounts) - you'd be surprised how much price / term shopping can save you on each deal.Best of luck to you and your family and I look forward to following your journey!

If you are comfortable with your contracts and they were approved by your attorney, then take it to the title company once it's fully signed and make sure to follow the transaction all the way through closing. 

So one of my deals I’m working on took me a while to get in contact with the owner but after following up we spoke and agreed on a price. i emailed him the contract and he said he didn’t like the dollar amount for the earnest money (which i had at $1 dollar) but instead he wanted $1,000 to lock the deal.