BTW - Not to correct you, but you're not blogging here, just participating in a forum conversation.

Bills are paid, food on table, plenty leftover each month.

This info is based off of comparables in the area, so I know the agent was correct in his assessment.

Harbinger is correct; however, EddieBoy is asking about something else entirely.

Sorry, but if you really check, the previous poster is correct- this will not pass the fraud sniff test.If you put someone on an account for the express purpose of reporting on a credit report, report them as an AU, and they are not (under the old scenaio, if you added your brother, even if he didn't have a card, he was legally authorized to use the account) you are walking a thin line.The FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) specifies what can and cannot be listed in a consumer credit report.

TN-Apprentice - you are correct about life isn't about money.

And flipping, you are 100% correct… the more knowledge you have, the better off you will be.

If anyone has any experience in this holding period mess I"d appreciate their input.You are correct there are no required holding period for doing a 1031 exchange, but the bare minimum you would want to do is one year and even that is pushing, it does not guarantee they will come after you if you do it sooner, but it does greaten your chances of them auditing the transaction.

lot going on in this post.first, no way will you get a 5.5% on a non occupied investment property.(2) you *may* end up with positive net income on the property without having the mortgage writeoff - this means a visit from the tax man. as an investor, the "write offs" or tax deductions you will receive, if your business entity is structured correctly and your CPA knows what he/she is doing and you keep tabs on it, will far exceed any write offs you will earn anywhere else...look at it this way...IF...you HELOC...taking 100k out of your property...now you've got 100k to invest in an reo or other distressed property - CASH...real estate is about leverage...but with the CASH purchase, it frees you up to do many different things down the road...IF...you "buy right" (below market value > 30%) - combined with the CASH purchase, you'll create a return on your investment that is EXCELLENT.if you took an arbitrary 100k (from anywhere, say it grew on a tree) and you stuck it in a savings account earning 5% (which is a lot for a savings account)...compare that to the 20% return you'll get off the monthly cash flow from a good rental...not to mention depreciation..and future leverage options available to you through this investment...the returns just compound.now this all deserves a qualifier...we don't know the specifics of your current home, your finances, what you owe on it currently, other debts etc.all that must be taken into account.

Am I understanding correctly that this is at least the desirable minimum GPM...