Locking in sub 5% money for 30 years is a bargain in my book.An alternative option I'm considering is finding another property where we live (very desirable area with acreage) and take advantage of the low rates.I have a son and daughter in law that would love to live in the area we live in, but they absolutely could not begin to afford it - unless.....

She couldn't just lock him out of the house.

Be cautious of not locking yourself into a short sale contract for too long.The key will be if your are is trending down in value or is starting to go up.If you submit a short sale offer and it takes 5 months to close and values have fallen 8% percent since then your deal isn't as great anymore.This is why I like REO better.

Or in this environment is the best answer just to buy 1-4 family units and lock in a low 30 year fixed. 1-4's are great but I really like this 6 fam and 8 fam i'm analyzing.

:D Although I have not attempted one, I believe the seller is locked into the HAFA program and if they do not succeed within the 120 days, it is up to the lender whether they will extend or not.

With lenders being so tight with money, it is important to ally yourself not only with a lender who is lending, but is doing so in a fashion that won't put you through hell with never-ending stips or underwriting times that endanger your rate lock and/or purchase contract.A knowledgeable broker can take away a lot of the stress that comes from kicking the tires with lenders since they're in the trenches and rely on getting paid by closing deals.

I tried a while back to get set up to pull credit but it seemed there were too many forms to fill out, needed a real street address for my office, they wanted to check my office for locks, no cell phone allowed, etc.

Huh, pay for inspections before the house is even locked-up under contract?

Below $1M or so things are different than when you get bigger loans too.Prepays, lock-outs, carve-outs, reserves, fully-indexed terms, underlying indices, etc. all get more important and complicated with commercial debt.

You are thinking to yourself "I want to lock in that 1% rate".