I realize there are a lot of details that go into the mortgage decision process for the lender that I couldn't include in here, but just looking for some general/creative ideas of ways that things  could be structured with a lender to make something like this work.tia,-Rob

All utilities included in HOA fee.

What are you TOTAL monthly expenses including gas, food, gifts, movies, mortgage, dinners out etc?

@John Knisely  Electric baseboard heating can be expensive when you look at life cycle cost, this includes utility cost. 

Hi Everyone, I am wondering if anyone can give me a rough estimate on how much it would cost per square foot to build a new house (land not included) in Durham North Carolina?

Quotes may not include sales tax.. 

But that is not a "cost segregation" A cost segregation is a 20-30 page document that gets included with the properties taxes that is requires an engineers approval. 

I am ok with commuting up to 30 minutes, so the areas I've been looking has been from the mid Raleigh area (draw a line from NCSU through downtown) all the way down to Clayton, NC.My fear is purchasing a house which doesn't appreciate at all, having trouble selling quickly, or having trouble finding a renter to cover all costs of the house (including a property manager). 

Make a spreadsheet and take your total rent and subtract vacancy, mortgage, capital expenditures/Maintenance, Tax, insurance, and property management (You always want to include this just incase down the road you end up using property management).

You now have to keep 13k into the property and can only take out 12k on a 75% loan which is more common for loans on investment properties.Then there are the costs associated with renting including vacancy, capital expenses, turn over, maintenance, property management, etc.