(This is a learning experience and a forum thread to help share useful and also important information you wish you knew when you just started with the RE journey.)Share them down below!

See below! 

Note: that 0.85% can vary depending on the percent down and other factors so check with a loan officer for different scenarios.Finally, your monthly P&I payment is based on the Total Loan Amount (Base Loan + UFMIP) which is $176,739.75 and on a 30 year term at 5.00% this gives a monthly payment of $948.78, so about $16 more than what you have.Not sure about closing costs in TX -- here that $3K would be low. 

@Amy Hu the only drawback with mini splits is their ability to heat inside when it’s below freezing outside http://www.daikinac.com/content/assets/DOC/SubmittalDataSheets/072017/MultiZone/2MXL18QMVJU-Submittal-Sheet.pdfIf you go with daikin, I would recommend their “enhanced capacity” line.

For any newbies out there, the problem with appraisals below offering price is that the underwriters of the loan will only cover up to the asking price, and the difference needs to be covered by the buyer. 

Get a hard money loan and pay 12% interest, or get a non-recourse loan from one of the lenders specializing in lending to retirement accounts from the list below at 5-8% interest?

I will outline the situation below and please let me know your thoughts!!

Just hone in on the area around the property of interest, and adjust the filters to only show sold properties in the last 3, then 6, then maybe 12 months if those more recent time frames don't yield many results.

It‘s a case by case analysis as property taxes could be lower for example.

I’d suggest a transaction detail report on your bank accounts, filtered for Deposits only.