You are not making any less on rent, the tenant has coverage that benefits them and you, and they feel like they aren't having to pay for the coverage either.

Not fun but not stressful.6 months after purchase at $71K, it appraised at $90K and I requested a refinance loan for $63K.The plan now is to take the loan cash along with part of the HELOC, which I have brought to a zero balance and pay cash for Rental #2.Knowing what I know now thanks to the lessons learned from Rental #1, I expect to do better with #2.

I'm about $4k over my max purchase price...So now, every dollar I can save my friend by selling to me instead of a third party means I PAY less on top of the net proceeds of sale, effectively reducing the purchase price of the property for myself - -so yes, the seller's costs DO in fact carry over to benefit me in a way. 

This burst taught us all a painful lesson, and many of us remember it well, but some are starting to forget.  

If on the other hand, you buy in a nice neighborhood, that appeals to more stable tenants who can afford and choose to spend extra on rent to live there, then your cash flow while less on paper day 1 will be much more stable and you will have infinitely fewer headaches collecting rent, turn overs will be easier and less frequent, and they will generally be kinder on your units.

They are expensive, and once they get you in the first session, most try to sell people more lessons that cost thousands of dollars.Good luck!

even with the mistakes and issues, you are learning valuable lessons.

If you and I were friends, you would have known he was scamming you before he even got the keys to the place.You learned a hard lesson, and I appreciate you sharing your story as there are many others on BP that will benefit from it.

So let that be a lesson, do your personal budget, and always do a forecast before committing to anything.

So if anyone knows a reasonable Lawyer and advice it would be much appreciated.I will update my other post with some before and after pictures and lessons learned from this rehab.