hoa fees are just ridiculous. i will never, ever buy a rental that requires hoa. there will always be a payment and there will always be an assessment.

While the reports contain heaps of data -- and I plan to dig in -- I'm looking for a book or other resource that attempts to explain what steps a small investor should follow in order to interpret available data to arrive at an overall market assessment for their own purposes -- in other words, a methodology that an economics layman could follow in order to assess the viability and potential of a market.

If she can't get that financed, she should sell the house, pay off your dad (and the existing mortgage, credit cards and the lawyer), and she should still net close to $200K.I have a sneaking suspicion by "appraised" you mean "assessed by the county".

FMV from tax assessor is 57K Tax Assess appraisal is 67K now it needs 5-10k work but area rents are 450 for 1 BR and up to 650 for Two BR.

Mike,I am from Chicago, IL myself and I don't completely agree with your assessment of the Chicago market.

I look forward to hearing your progress!

How about the standard (easily understood) progression?

I have lived in Denver almost 6 years now.I am Trying to make a career change to a full time real estate investor. starting to make a little progress on it but hey times are toughDont worry I will keep working at it!

Thanks for your great suggestions, finally I found an expert property tax lawyer for appealing property tax from law firm and fill a simple form at [removed] for appealing property tax assessment.

But, any increase in HOA fees or even a one-time special assessment can kill the profitability very quickly.Also, many complexes (at least around my area) have either litigation, delinquency, or a very large investor-to-owner-occupied ratio.