You just have to warm up to the idea of 5 year ARM or balloon financing instead of 30 year fixed.

Depending on areas you are looking for help there are very good contractors out there that will not charge you an arm and a leg and that do excellent work.

The alternative is 25% down on a fixed loan, no PMI or 15% down on an ARM.

As to interest rate, as I read that some time ago, Fannie Mae was referenced as to the indexes used, that would be treasury bills or fed fund districts or LIBOR, that the cap was 5% from the index, which is basically the options of ARM loans through Fannie Mae.

You want a referral for the best real estate CPA for your taxes.For the best property managers go to IREM.org search for ARM certified, they passed a battery of tests to become certified.Good LuckPaul

If that is the case, you may need to do a more formal exchange, treating the transaction in an arm's length manner.

Since balloon loans are out of the question now, you may want an incentive for the buyer to refinance (I know you're buying....) you can do an ARM, but I won't go there now, but the margin is 5% over several indexes that may apply.Another issue is having any underlying mortgage that may have a balloon that a bank may make like a 180/60, meaning a 15 yr amortization with a 5 year balloon.

My question is, what do you think about the safety of taking out loans on a couple houses that would probably be purchased at or just slightly below market value, 25% down, 30 year amortization, etc.

Maybe an ARM?

This was a sweet old dog that did not raise any safety concerns, with me anyway.I need to see what my insurance says about dogs or breed specific before proceeding with either of the two.