And some sellers will put in deed restrictions that limit your ability to re-sell the house for some period of time.Better to get out there and beat the bush for private sellers.

The secondary market limitation is by property, not by the number of loans, although fannie says it's the number of loans in the secondary but obtaining a blanket loan on 9 properties does not put you into a position of a small investor for underwriting purposes, 10 units, 10 roofs, 10 legal descriptions owned and financed by any means puts you in the RE investor category, need to live with it and get with a bank and begin setting up your portfolio as an investor in the RE business.

The main takeaway being that I really want it to look like a business and not a hobby.The financial accounting piece is also critical.

Like I said I don't know much about it but I know enough to either just forget short sales and go the REO route OR if someone contacts me that is going to be over that time limit, refer them to a Realtor that can help them (of which being new I don't have anyone that I could recommend so calling all RE agents, this is a relationship we could foster that could be a win-win ...

MREs are a great option Rob K (trust me, I have had them quite a few times) but they have certain limitations.

That means your comps need to be similar to the subject or if a comp is used that is not similar, the adjustment can not exceed the adjustment per centages (10%), when you have two that are not similar your total adjustments will usually be exceeded.That basically means that burm and underground homes are rarely financed in the secondary market.....I know, I did two of them and it was like pulling hen's teeth, as I recall the LTV was 70 or 75% too.So this will limit yoiur market to cash buyers or those obtaining portfolio bank financing usually at a low LTV, forget about selling to the average family with 10% down.To get rid of it, you may need to seller finance it long term.

If you have limited funds to start with perhaps mobile homes would be a place to get your feet wet without having that much money at risk.

When he retires, he can make payments from 401K distributions, and can pay it off right away if he wants, though I might spread it out over a few years to minimize the tax impact from the distributions (keep him in the lowest possible tax bracket).I see no reason to borrow from the 401K (which is typically limited to $50K and would necessitate monthly payments around $900 to pay it off in the max-allowed 5 years).

Section 14 (Occupants) says "the number of occupants is limited to two adults and two (2) children" ... the "two" is even highlighted in yellow.Isn't this a discriminatory phrase??

Always have a reserve in place to be able to pay for unexpected repairs as they're sure to surface over time.Even with the unexpected road bumps, I continue to be a huge believer in real estate as a critical component of investment strategy.