You have the luxury of being able to get into the market here.

you guys make great points on getting the sfh at a nice rate by utilizing an owner occupied loan, but a 1031 cannot be used unless property classified as investment prop meaning higher interest rate and higher down payment 20%~.  

I realize most people do not have the luxury of purchasing outright a property and financing is their only choice…but even in that choice what are the optimal level of maximizing cash flow by altering your down payment percentage?

Expect to pay between $40 to $60 a sq foot for development costs including engineering, architect, surveyor, permits, utility hookups, etc.

Still, though, there are lots of gotchas, even if your zoning will currently allow the second unit, including:- Utility submeter requirements.- Water and sewer capacity fees (locally ~$10k just for approval per new dwelling unit).- Sewer sizing.

I am exploring installation of roof top solar panels to a) reduce the utility bills (Owner paid utility situation), b) to replace an old roof part of this deal so it can be depreciated quickly!

I have a quick question:I'm doing my third rehab and the new contractor I am dealing with is asking that I connect utilities to the property.

There are no utility leins because when they tore down the house they cut the lines at the road so it would have to be reran if built on.

A good tool to utilize is excel, you can evaluate a cash flow in minutes.Monthly payment is =PMT(intrate,term,principle) it would look like=PMT(5%/12,180,100000) This is $100,000 at 5% term of 15 years.Then place your estimated occupancy rate, insurance, taxes, an allotment for improvements down the road into a pivot table to automatically subtract.

That said, don't walk into any situation blind; make sure you utilize all the tools available on BP and always ask questions in the forums when you are unsure of something.