If your plan is to have renters, generally once they are in place and paying rent, 75% the rent they pay will goes towards debt repayment (which is a good thing and increases your likelihood of getting financing.)

My agent/Property Mgr told me that all of Detroit has restrictions on house COLORS?

Productivity per worker is increasing at exponential rates.

Do I try to gradually get him to $700 a month with a 3-5% increase each year?

Looks like I increase the down payment and the initial interest rate, but certainly don't want to pay 10% after that either.

Anyway, my property assessment increased almost 40% from the last assessment (house was completely renovated), but is still $65k under the closing price.

None of the 3 families meet my screening criteria and all 3 rents are under market value.However, there is nothing I can do until their leases are up.I plan to incrementally increase the rents over two years to get them up where they should be. 

On the flip side, each new hand that touches the deal or the loan, increases the likelihood of a mistake. 

I would also check your comps in rent say go back over the last 5 years and I would bet you are seeing over time increases to your rent in your area due to growth?

According to our data, rent costs have increased by 34% from 2012 – 2016, a sign of strong demand for rental units.Another sign for optimism in the Aurora real estate market is the rising home values.