I would never buy condos in a place like Utah or in the Midwest because SFR's are so comparably affordable, first time home buyers in those areas still will always buy SFR's.

If a tenant is trying to decide between your home and others in the area, how do your amenities compare to those?

Comparable homes lead me to believe it's worth 2- 3 million in this market.

The risk, of course, is they don't pay and you have to foreclose.But you'd be surprised how much better an investor does at keeping a property rented compared to a property manager.

Now, let's say that the average house of comparable size in that neighborhood, in decent condition but nothing special, is going for around $125k.

How many times will you move from a rental in the next 10 years compared to a home you own?

The rents were low compared to other rentals in the area.

The movers handle the contact with the authorities.

Peter, as others stated, an NOO loan will likely be higher than the figures you quoted, plus, in order for investors to compare apples to apples, we use the entire purchase price and assume the loan would be taken out for that amount.

I disagree about the charging the upfront fee makes a serious buyer.I can't tell you how many scammers I have seen in the commercial lending arena.I can say one problem lenders face is they get a package submitted to them and then give an LOI.Then in due diligence the buyer finds out the income levels and returns were not as stated.Now the lender wants a bigger payment down from the buyer or the buyer has to get the seller to reduce to the actual proven numbers.The deal falls out and the lender made nothing.The way to solve this is submit a detailed and verified package upfront.This way you know the numbers you are sending have been verified.Lenders site confidentiality etc. when doing loans so you can't verify other properties they have closed.If lenders state money has to be in escrow or a deposit have YOUR attorney hold in an account the lender does not have access to or authorization to.This way the money can be shown to be there and earmarked for the purposes of the loan.I am telling you these scammers will do anything to separate you from your money.I know some deals I wasn't involved in where the people chased the lender for 6 months to get back 500k.Do not let lenders PUFF fees.If they say they have to pay for appraisal then tell them you will pay the appraiser directly.If you are a legit lender and you make money when you close a loan you should have no problem with this.If however you are a fee generator mill and you hardly close anything or a point taker with upfront fees I can't tell clients to work with you.Some point takers take money to submit apps knowing the lender will not close or that it's a sham.They usually charge a small amount upfront to entice the victim.Usually 500 to a few thousand.