Christian,I don't believe your comments are entirely true.The was a federal act passed in DEC 2007 the lenders cannot hit you with a default judgement on your primary residence keep in mind the irs can and will tax you on the spread in a short sale and one morning you will wake up to a 1099 in your mail boxOn the contrary, House Resolution 3648 prevents home owners from being taxed on forgiven debt.

Acconts cannot be combined.

Last I checked (correct me if I'm wrong), consumer credit card debt was at $1.1 Trillion and rising.

HUD does not only offer people discounted homes to purchase but the ability to finance their purchase or consolidation of existing debt.

I know with my first home I bought they looked at my income to debt ratio and wouldn't go any higher than like 45%, but since I already have one mortgage, do they look at that with investment properties?

Typically what you will find is that they will allow cash out only to 65-75% of your purchase price which leaves a significant portion of your cash and improvements tied up.Better NOT to buy with cash but always make sure there is a note/deed of trust or mortgage filed at closing on the purchase so you are alwys paying off underlying debt.

The IRS often gets involved with short sales, because they are seen as a relief of debt and may be treated as income.

I want to find an investor who will be my backer and who will pay all advertising costs in addition to a small salary to keep my debts current.

The numbers look like this: Property price: $47,000 (our offer) # of units: 5 Monthly Rent: $1,900 Expenses (assuming 50% rule): $950 Down Payment: $10,000 Monthly Debt Service: $287 (20 years at 7%) Monthly Cash Flow: positive $663 ($130/unit)I've had the place inspected and it will take some money to fix it up.

Or Santa Monica or San Diego.Meant to add this: Cash flow = collected rent less all actual expenses less debt service.