Makes it easier to save and less capital tied up in the deal.It really depends on the lender and what percentage of your rental income they count for.

I think the other posts have pretty much covered it from a rental perspective, but another issue is the financing.The room will not be counted as a Bed Room (BR) for financing purposes. 

.), but they're counting the sq. ft. of it towards the total sq. ft. of the condo- That's not right, is it?

While we were viewing the property we counted 7 other investors.

And the best part.... projected rent can be counted in favor of your DTI!

That stopped in 1012-13 depending on the area and I don't see anywhere that is close to happening again.The longer the DOM, the more chance of getting a lower offer accepted but still, don't count on a great deal in this market.

@Greg Dowdell I haven’t done this, mainly because the landlord in RI is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the property has running water and sewer, which in practice usually means s/he pays the bill to ensure that’s the case.That said, you can certainly try to bill it back to the tenant, but if they don’t pay you will end up paying the bill anyway because if the water is shut off then you will have breached your implied warranty of habitability, and I believe it would count against you if you ended up in eviction court.So, basically you have to hope that the tenants are good enough to care about paying their water bills consistently, but not so good that they google (or ask) around and find out it’s ultimately the landlord’s responsibility.My main concern as a landlord would be how it would play out in eviction court. 

Can count to 20 using fingers and toes?  

So if the building has an unzoned attic or basement apartment the building still counts as a 2 unit and is excluded from the self sufficiency test allowing you to buy a "3 or 4 unit" with 3.5-5% down. 3) I found a lender on the west coast who can do 4.5% on a 5 year ARM at 10% down for 3 and 4 units owner occupant.

I count the number of contractor vehicles.