The HS loan allows you to finance all rehab monies needed into one loan and your downpayment is based on the total price of the home (purchase price + rehab budget).

@Hunter Peterson I totally get the SFR desire but if you plan on moving on within a year or two I think the duplex would be ideal.

For a small percentage of the total rent, most companies are able to find you a tenant within the first month of contract.

About $3-4k total.)

Here are some preliminary numbers I ran: 260K FHA no repairs and current rents on left, 300K 203K, reno and higher rents on right: % Down Payment 5.00% 5.00% Down Payment $13,000 $15,000 Remainder of closing costs $3,000.00 $3,000.00 Total Due at Signing $16,000 $18,000            Mortgage Rate 4.60% 4.60% Length of Mortgage in years 30 30 Monthly Mortgage payment $1,266.00 $1,461.00 Taxes $386.00 $445.00 Sewer and Water $50.00 $50.00 Trash $50.00 $50.00 Heat/Utilities $ - $ - PMI $ 180.00 $ 208.00 Cap Ex and Ops $200.00 $200.00 Insurance $65.00 $75.00 Mgmt Fee $165.00 $165.00 Vacancy $132.00 $132.00 Total Expenses $2,494.00 $2,786.00     Unit 1 $500.00 $700.00 Unit 2 $900.00 $1,100.00     Total Revenue $1,400.00 $1,800.00     Cashflow/month ($1,094.00) ($986.00) Cashflow/year ($13,128.00) ($11,832.00) Cash on Cash Return -8.42% -6.57% I have not talked with the seller in detail yet, as I want to see if this is worth a deeper dive first. 

When I sold it, paying off that loan, dropping my total debt, lowering my debt to income ratio, moving from 2 mortgages to 1, only increased my credit score by 1 point.I will NEVER under how credit scores work, but I know they affect chances of getting a mortgage and interest rates you can get.

Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers.

In other words, if the second mortgage holder is also notified and he redeems before I have a chance to is the property his free and clear and do I totally lose out?

I did a 1031 exchange to purchase 2 properties totaling $260k.

., and is over 2000 square feet (per unit -- the house is 4000+ total).