I financed the deal through a combination of personal savings and a conventional mortgage.

1) Rarely paying asking price or even "market price" for a property.2) Understanding how they may be able to reposition a poorly managed property for increased cashflow and value.3) Looking for creative financing, so they don't have to deal with a bank for a purchase loan.4) Understanding ROI, Cash-on-Cash, NOI, etc. and using those numbers to determine HOW MUCH they should offer on a property to meet their taget performance numbers.Funny, appropriate, recent interaction with a plumbing company.

I financed the deal through a combination of personal savings and a conventional mortgage.

Very rarely do single family homes cash flow, at least not on a consistent basis over an extended period of time regardless of what your spreadsheet may suggest.

If you see WSJ Prime + anything less than a point  it usually means the bank has a great deal of respect for your creditworthiness, really wants to fund your project or combination of both.

I rarely ever have turnovers which saves me tens of thousands.

The numbers you find in the news are usually for all properties combined, which tells you very little value.In 2005, we selected a specific tenant segment that has proved to be a highly reliable source of income for our clients.

Tax savings as the primary motive for investing rarely ends well.

I used to live there myself and know them somewhat personally (one pretty well) so I’ve been soft on price increases (when someone rarely moves out that room goes to market rate though).

In my law practice, I see a lot of property management agreements, and it is rare to see a requirement of financial disclosures.