I am former military, I qualify for a VA backed loan, which from all my reading and research, would be my cheapest route in terms of purchasing a house, while allowing for the least Downpayment required ( 2.25% Funding Fee ).The thing is, I want to buy a property on the front end as an Investor " Investment Property ", instaed of an Owner Occupant, so that I can get in there and do a few upgrades, new flooring, new paint and get it on the market and rented as soon as possible.

@Riley- you have the right idea in terms of trying to do things for Cash Flow.Ironically- there is a function tomorrow @ the NY Hilton: www.nycrealestateexpo.com In general, you would have to immerse yourself in the RE community.

In terms of finding a ready willing and able seller, the worst thing you will hear when you make your inquiries is simply a "No".In addition, like with anything, if you can add value you will catch the ear of folks.

Lastly, for a person who does not have $98,000 cash to purchase the homes, what would you suggest in terms of financing?

I also have begun attending local REI club meetings.My area is small in population but in terms of percentages it rides the waves just like Phoenix and Vegas so i'm not sure yet whether it's a good or bad area to be investing in.

if my salary from my 9-5 wont cut it in terms of DTI ratios for the loan service, how long will they need to see rental income?

And based what I'm reading here on BP, LA seems like a very difficult one to jump into in terms of renting laws and the large amount of capital I would need.- I know NY very well, but the amount of capital needed there, and the distance, seems daunting.- I tend to be a conservative investor in general, so buying real estate in other cities that I really don't know seems a bit risky to me.

:)Thankfully I'm not looking into any syndications at this time so raising private money via establishing a relationship with the person first if really the best way to secure the funding anyway so less messy in terms of this stuff.Really my main goal is to get accredited myself to just be able to get solicited for the syndicates rather than run them

And sometimes things just break down.You can't be afraid to evict a tenant, and you need to let them know before they sign the lease as to what they can expect in terms of lease violations.

Most are not good deals, but many are.If you want the best deal possible in terms of the returns, then Jon is correct in that you'd have to be hands-on and create the deal by putting in the time and effort yourself.