From www.personalliberty.com:Obama’s ‘Promise Zones’ Picked For Their Strategic Value To Democratic PartyJanuary 9, 2014 by Ben BullardPresident Barack Obama designated five areas Thursday as Economic Promise Zones: three in cities, one in rural Kentucky and one on the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma – and nearly all of them offer Democrats stronger political inroads with resistant local voters.Obama described the ‘Zones as places where kids would, with the Federal government’s help, have the same opportunities to realize the American Dream as kids in more affluent parts of the country.

Did sellers pay up after the fact? or

Having overseen over 1,500 units I totally agree that boots on the ground, management is the make or break factor.

Another factor the look at is DTI (debt to income) https://www.credit.com/calculators/dti/If you go FHA you must live there for 1 year.

I honestly expect every foreclosed house that I look at will have broken pipe from freezing, water or baseboard, and just factor that into my cost.

.$324,000 Total CostHolding Numbers:$2,100 Principle Interest Taxes Insurance$1,900 Rent from 4-bedroom SFH (with 7% vacancy this drops to $1,767)$1,300 Rent from myself in renovated 2-bedroom Carriage house$967 Profit with 7% vacancy on the 4-bedroom rentalThe garage could potentially rent for $300-800, but I'm not factoring it in because I'm not sure of how legal that is.This is my first purchase.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/4178/blog_posts/33328-wondering-what-its-like-to-search-for-properties-take-a-look-hereIn fact, here are a few more of my posts that may help you..http://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/4178/blog_posts/30227-fact-or-opinion-which-is-the-best-information-to-give-a-fellow-investorhttp://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/4178/blog_posts/33000-my-favorite-quote-to-datehttp://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/4178/blog_posts/29349-arv-calculatinghttp://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/4178/blog_posts/30113-how-to-qualify-as-a-landlordhttp://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/4178/blog_posts/28728-property-searching-tipAgain, not trying to be an ***.

Even if the place is new, you must factor in repairs in case a renter destroys the place or something else happens that maybe insurance can't cover.

All these factors can eat into your cash flow and ROI.You as the investor also have to think about what your want in terms of monthly cash flow and how quickly you want to make your initial investment back.

It's all designed to protect the general consumer population.