Client is already sourcing SBA funding for his ventures and should easily get his loan due to the performance of the property.

In the law I found that it says even owners not living in the property must have a contractors license to perform the work themselves.

Even if We know that Bayou City is facing the oil slump very hardly, but there niche and part of the town that still performing well because are occupied by different types of professionals figure that are working in sector like maritime transport, medical, manufacturing and distribution.My suggestion is to study the market, contact a local agent, read the news, and then make your decision based on real number and real prospective and area development.Once again, depending everything on what Submarket your are going to focus.

Typical hold times are 10+ years so how the property performs over the foreseeable future is just as important as how the property performs today.

While they were all great to live in at the time, none of them have been high-performing investment properties.

I called FCI and was told that even though we have retained a trustee attny, I need to now hire a mediation attny to perform the mediation with borrower and/or their attny. 

I brought up the fact that our old apartment is still vacant and perhaps we could perform a walk through to see exactly what the paint and trim charge was for.

Pros:Fewer days on the market (aka reduce vacancy) from additional marketing time and lining up the tenant before the existing tenant has vacatedStaged homes rent better than one w/o furniture (although rare the tenant has good enough style :))Ability to perform an informal "move-out" inspection, which provides a better idea of the turnaround time before the new tenants can move-inTenants may tidy up the place a bit and get a head start on their move-out process (rare, but worth pointing out)Cons:Reduced rent --> assuming some of the above bullet points are a stretch from reality (aka staged home and tidy up the place), the clutter and style may detract tenants from wanting to move-inInconvenience to the existing tenantsCoordination of the showings requires contacting the existing tenantsI know many SFH will list the property while other tenants are in it, but you must take it on a case-by-case basis, and it's heavily dependent on the existing tenants.

I know they go MLS to get best price, I have no idea if there are pitfalls or what not, new to investing but 12 years in government construction as self performing contractor.

Of course you would need to perform your due diligence and ensure the numbers will work in your favor.