I would also be interested in purchasing other investment properties but starting with the homestead would be a good start.I have found some great programs for resident physicians who have secured residency positions but I am about 7 months away from being in this position.

My investment would be secured by Deed of Trust.

Some folks on the site (Memphis-based, I think) were recently advocating that you shouldn't supply appliances.

Whether the wording is enforceable or not, most bank will not honor a conditional endorsement and you need to have a special arrangement where you verify the endorsement before the item is paid.I believe Beneficial finance or maybe Houselhold used this idea at one time (maybe mid 1990's) where they sent out $5,000-$10,000 checks and people that cashed them had an instant second mortgage, maybe it was unsecured, but the homeowners believed it was secured by their Real property.

Don't be too shy on securing more if you can continue to get those types of numbers.

My quad's come out to 64,000 a door for 850 to 950 a month in rent on my apartments.I don't look at it only from a cash flow perspective however.The area I have the buildings in is an A location prime for redevelopment down the road.Mike it sounds like your local market is competitive with investors and your margins are thin.On one hand it is good to be in a thriving market where demand is strong because usually supply is lower and the amount of rentals and new development for multifamily cannot meet demand.This helps rents grow at a rate that outpaces utility increases and inflation.The downside is it can make some investors overspend on a property because they feel good about the market.I looked for over 2 years before I bought something.I said many times those buyers were nuts.I tracked the properties and many investment properties after purchase just 1 to 2 years later went into foreclosure.They bought at such a price that it wasn't sustainable.I look for a 10 CAP or better on my purchases.The problem is if you someone who has only gotten 1 percent interest off of a CD or Treasuries or they have gotten beat up in the stock market.Those types of buyers jump up and down to get a 7% annual CAP return beating out your offers everyday of the week.By in large many buyers like this can be lazy.They only look in the MLS for listed properties.Value can be found marketing to sellers that are not on the market.They don't want to make public all of their problems ( I know it is common knowledge of default at some point but this is their mindset ).

I am not sure on the specifics regarding the costs associated with tenants abandoning personal property.Since we have 30 days to refund the security deposit, and if the tenant does not or refuses to claim any abandoned personal properties after X number of days, can the cost of storage or removal be deducted from the security deposit?

You also need to take into account if your competition is waving the security deposit for qualified applicants,charging a pet fee or not,paying for any water,sewer,trash for the tenant included in the rent,including appliances,or giving a rent credit on move in, and many other factors.Rent rates can look good until you see how many landlords you are competing with,quality of the product,and incentives given driving down the net rent before debt service and depreciation.

Then he can foreclose upon you and you can also have a forgivable caveat on the mortgage.I have done dozens of JV's/OP's and mortgages are just so much easier as they leave your investor secured, attached to title with everything laid out and clear.

There are no appliances inside until we get a tenant and the outside AC compressor is being installed (today) with a steel security cage anchored to some concrete piers.