By the time you factor in maintenance, capex, vacancies,  and other expenses, you are barely breaking even (or possibly cashflow negative).And buying a property for more than it is worth makes it hard to exit if things go wrong.

They are the easiest to rent of all of my houses but have a negative cash flow. 

I really don't want to assume that the rents will raise 2-3% every year, even if statistics are currently showing that.

Probably in the least this is a 400K project but you're in Jersey so it's got to be much much higher than it would be here in Kansas, unless you're buying slum low down junk that you shouldn't be looking at anyway.This would be a pretty lengthy and involved decision and you would need to have a lot of knowledge about a wide variety of things to even approach this kind of project.Most people will probably try to help guide you in some fashion and by all means please don't think I'm trying to be negative or have a mean tone to my text here.

.- jobs are great, however, people are willing to commute, usually close to jobs means busy/noisy, apart from Milenials who love that social interaction, older families with kids may prefer a quiet "cul-de-sac" street where kids can play freely- proximity to certain negative aspects such as railroads, flood zonesOn the inventory level, I am monitoring the supply/demand of rentals in a certain area of interest.

I have heard of tenants suing landlords for libel/slander if a previous/current landlord said anything negative about them. 

It's a lot more convenient to not be dependent on another person.I do not believe there is any negative about placing an offer and disclosing your license status.  

I cant blame the guy though, Brooklyn deals are bought with negative cash flow, because the appreciation rate is incredible right now.Its crazy out there.

I am wondering if the credit crunch on the mortgage side has negatively effected their plans to sell their properties. 

That is part of my personality indeed, but sometimes I do not know when it may be a positive or when it may be a negative.