Ideally you offer 2 or 3 yrs depending on your circumstances with an option to have a one time 6 or 12 month extension. 

In layman terms, its ideal because if the numbers work, you will have your tenant paying your mortgage and you will be living rent free.Most on the site will agree, this is a great way to get started.Listen to the BP podcasts and frequent the forums with any questions you have.  

Holding a house open is one of the best things you can do to find clients.Look at yourself carefully and decide what you can and ideally what you like to do that is of value to a home buyer or seller and that is different from other agents.

How should I deal with the tenants? 

I found what appeared to be an ideal set of lots in an old subdivision.

Take a Snapshot of Where You AreFirst, examine 36 months of “actual” collections for each property—ideally this number should be trending northward.

I know it's not ideal but this is the only type of loan I could get pre-approved for.

Ideally you need to able to find their cell phone.

Hi @Craig Kleffman,Yup, you've discovered that [ FHA + Retail Price + MLS + 2-4 unit = less than ideal ] in hotter markets. 

Here is my ideal scenario:1.