But I take your point.I'm guessing that the townhome qualifies for the "2 out of 5 year" rule for preferential tax treatment which is one more reason to sell it now.I don't like being a long distance landlord, I sold all of my rentals before I moved 200 miles, so I wouldn't keep it unless you KNOW you might move back and re-occupy it.Your math analysis is correct.

Rental Rule of 100: Rent X 100 = max valueFor houses that you plan to flip you just need to find an appreciating marketFor houses that you intend to rehab you should look for low days on market

First rule of thumb for a small investor is to live within 15 miles of the property and manage it themselves.

Quite often the bank will bid up the price to whatever is owed to them on the loan and if there is a second lien then that lender might also bid the property up to cover their losses.Most likely you can just call the county courthouse and they will tell you all about the auction rules... after all, they WANT to sell those properties for as much as they can and that means they need buyers like you.

There are only 2 rules here:1.

Some states have adopted a rule which requires the adverse possessor to pay taxes each year on the land.

It is a good rule of thumb though)Take that and reduce it by the amount of your repairs and all of your acquisition costs and an error margin( I always use 10% of the cost of repairs for those little uh ohs).

It is extremly important that people read these rules prior to the purchase of a property governed by such rules.

A basic rule of thumb, but not applicable in all cases is that a loan from a broker may have slightly higher initial fees/closing costs, but brokers can often get you a better interest rate.

The 3 rules to successful flipping in any market. 1.