OTOH, I can use a MUCH smaller DP (3.5-5 percent vs. 20-25 percent) and possibly no money for rehab on a personal residence.

It costs 10 percent to sell a house, commissions, closing costs, wiggle room, etc.I agree w @Steve VaughanA Joint venture w the seller on a rehab should be1. give the seller a note and mortgage in exchange for a deed2. use private money for rehab3. use a joint venture agreement with the seller4.

Yes it is a WRAP.The insurance company says they cannot renew the policy for the previous seller unless she shows ownership.Bank financing is not an option right now.I do not want to dump that kind of cash into the property.Maybe I could add her back on title with a 1 percent interest in the property or something like that??

We have a package deal of ten percent down on each home with a guarantee of loans on the next 8 houses from a local broker.

It is reported up to 30 percent of prisoners are there for drug related offences and of that maybe 75 percent are marijuana offences.

Time spent as an employee in real property activities counts o nly if the taxpayer is more than a 5 percent owner.SECOND TEST: Does taxpayer spend more than 750 hours in real property businesses and rentals in which he materially participates?

I haven't had any evictions or occupancy problems"Cheryl I would suspect this is for a few reasons.Washington D.C. is a anomaly with unemployment a little over 1 percent last time I heard.So with all the government bloat and red tape,and programs that aren't working there is money to be made working close to the Capitol.We are a a spending economy so it stands to reason in Washington with employment so low and people having jobs they will spend.This will lead to stability and less evictions and lay offs and more jobs.They are feeding the machine up there but with a high cost to everyone else in the future.Anything will work for a time before imploding.

I believe my estimates for repair and maintainence are higher due to the fact that my property management company charges 15 percent to $50 whichever is lower to oversee repairs.

Make sure the overall duplex deal fits real close into the 50 percent rule.

I recently came across Zillow's "Most Undervalued Market" list and noted Merced was number one, along with a few other valley cities making the list.A lot of investors I talk to do not have much good to say about the valley, but the two percent rule seems to be attainable there.