Can we just have the sheriff come over and make them leave?

$900 a month. 50% for all expenses, vacancy and capital leaves $450 a month, $5400 a year.

If you consider it you should require they pay 4 months in advance.This will cover them paying the first months rent,time to immediately evict them if they violate a provision in the lease,and cover paint and carpet again.If they violate the lease for any reason all the money paid upfront is NON-REFUNDABLE.Don't just stick a tenant in there to put one in.Make them meet extra security demands or wait on a better tenant to come along.You have to make a tenant like that have a bunch of "skin" in the game.They may or may not have reformed themselves and if they have they should not mind putting extra down.

IMHO you need to leave your cousin out of it.

When it's time to sell, would it show ok leaving as is in brown or would it show better to paint white?

i dont know of any banks allowing a seller to hold your downpayment...not saying its not possible, but most want skin in the game....good luck and let us know :)

I've placed what I thought were good tenants in my rentals only to have them make a mess and leave me with utility bills.

After 2 years, you have a choice... you can either refinance your FHA into conventional (NOO will typically only loan to 75% LTV) and do another OO FHA... or you can buy your next OO place conventional (typically 20% down) and leave your funding as is on the 1st place.

If it's your deal, try to get it low enough to meet your buyers criteria and make your spread while leaving meat on the bone (hint: what buyers say doesn't necessarily match their actions).

If you don't have a Federal Identification Number, do you just leave that blank?