Josh, great job on this project! 

Thanks Josh.

My favorite is The Complete Guide to Investing in REITS by Mark Gordon.

Also do you have liability coverage for your 7 properties, as Gordon is saying?

Thank you @Josh July, the basement is already finished when I purchased the property.

Josh Dorkin "Whats up Man?"!

If you have a hard time affording the extra $7500 for the down payment, you may have an even harder time with 6 months of vacancy and an oppositional tenant, if things happen to work out like that.Other than that, I agree with @Ben Wilkins that you shouldn't count on any pet rent income or coin op income in your #s, and with @Josh Caldwell that a significant part of this decision should be whether you actually want to live in this property (for the 5 years of the loan assistance term).I don't think the #s are going to be cash flow positive for a while, but if you look at it as "monetary assistance for a place I want to live anyway, along with an introduction to landlording" then the whole package may still be good for you in this case.

As Josh Carr mentioned you have to file for a tax deed.

For the past 6 months or so, I've been that guy lurking in the shadows... selfishly absorbing the knowledge provided by listening to the podcast as I ride the T to work, but ignoring the repeated advice of Josh and Brandon to create a profile and get active on the site.

@Josh C. does the refinance usually take a 6 month seasoning period?