If you have owned them less than 12 months and they are not on the tax return, then generally they will use 70% of the lease amount as the "income" netted against any mortgage payments. 

Like you said, @Jay Hinrichs, there's a lot of low value properties in certain areas here, specifically Milwaukee county, but the suburban areas could be a gold mine for an agent, and I know several that do very well.And these are both cash strategies for me, where my money will go as soon as I'm making it is into rental properties, and I currently have different savings categories, with one being the down payment for a first property (assuming I don't find a convenient sub2 or seller finance before that).Thanks again everyone, and happy investing!

They require a large down payment, but there is no other underwriting.

What I would like to see happen is save some more and then put a down payment on a cheap house to hopefully fix up and either live in or sell for a little profit.  

I am planning on using heloc funds for down payments.

As the mortgage financing industry is constantly changing and so are certain requirements, can anyone share what the lowest down payment percentage they needed for an investment property was?

You could also see if the buyer will possibly qualify for conventional w/ a 5% down payment, which would allow them to get a new appraisal. 

I'd strongly suggest learning the laws regarding paying these individuals and how to structure the payment/agreement so you can protect yourself.  

A lender looks at it as the first mortgage payment you are going to make is your own, followed by your rentals, so there is (slightly) more risk.

He said he would do it only after receiving the payments for all the docs and the "cleaning", staging that he had paid for.