I get a property with little to a lot of equity, all numbers make sense, and get it under contract (A contract that's approved by my attorney), go to the title company have them do what they do, I pay the owner some money/ expenses plus pay off the default amount (if there's a default amount) and have them move out, remodel it (if needed), if not then move someone in for a year or two, build more equity and collect the cash flow.

Hey I just got approved for my Heloc and am ready to invest in my first official rental property.

thanks for your response...They have the pre-approval which they forwarded to me, we are ok with the price too, but they say its contingent on appraisal and inspection.The question i have is, since they have been living in the house the last 6 years, should we be asking them to waive inspection contingency?

The approval process is based on the income/expenses of the property not your personal income.  

I also have a client right now near BWI and we have to get additional approvals from the airport authority.

When you make offers on properties do you always have a pre-approval letter?

How hard is it to get appraisers in to appraise properties and are loans taking longer to approve?

Depending on the route you are looking to take and what your approval process for funding looks like will determine what you should charge as far as interest, fees and points go in my opinion.

So it's harder to get loans approved and some banks are asking for reduced LTV's, at least from what I've heard.

To be approved, you need the income that is reliable, stable and likely to continue for at least three years.