There are soooo many debates on BP about buying all cash versus leveraging.

Growth north or along the I-75 corridor, I bet will slow.What do you think?

I'll bet yours is now the nicest house in the neighborhood.

Rich,I found this on the IRS site http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/What-is-Earned-Income%3F;In this link the IRS clearly says that interest is not considered "Earned Income"Now understand I am neither a tax attorney or accountant however, If I was in your situation my expectation would be that I could collect this income from holding the mortgage without reducing my SS benefits.Probably your best bet though would be to contact a tax accountant or tax attorney (or both) to be certain.

This is what I tell clients in order to "leverage" their investment capital.Before you start, weight out the pros and cons of fixing out-of-state property versus buying a leased done-for-you solution.

And you can also put ads in craigslist for the salesprice.I bet someone here can get you a good sales contract that's written from the seller's point of view.

What I would bet dollars to doughnuts on is that with respect to charging fees and usury issues and lending requirements, I'd say half the private deals made by those who "really do" lending on the side so to speak would not be compliant.

What's the benefit of choosing the 15yr versus the 30yr when financing an investment property?

Definitely look into the 1-4 unit financing as I think that will be your best bet as a new investor.This video may be helpful when evaluating deals as well

Your best bet is with local banks and the big banks.