Oak Park is great, walkable and safe, but would be a pain to travel up to Libertyville.

Since i am moving to a new state, registration and associated taxes are pretty much the same either way.Currently only have 1 car, and an older cruiser motorcycle.If i travel long distance it is usually once a year.

I had purchased a vacant parcel in Miami Shores at 861 NE 91st Terrace; where I created a Miami Shores approved entitlement package for a modern home design.  

So, if there is a turd in the toilet, I know I'm getting a good deal because it eliminates 99% of retail buyer competition, and it is usually an easy fix: 1)turn on water, 2)flush, 3)replace toilet for $100.Oh, and one of the more ironic ones found once was a complete VHS set of a get rich quick real estate guru package ... it was in a foreclosure I bought, so I guess that particular system did not work as advertised.

Also your loan closing package should have had a copy of the amortization schedule in there. 

Just ask them how rental income works from the property you are purchasing & if the rental income can be counted towards making your DTI work, if needed.If they say you need to travel in time to put it on two years of personal historic tax returns, you know they (or their firm, same thing) aren't REI friendly and can move on.If you end up with 3 out of 3 local lenders being REI friendly, you've got a problem that I suspect many BP members would be envious of. :)

Travel back and forth to Baltimore is both time consuming and expensive.

Keep an eye on the news, as it the stimulus/bailout packages may well do something that would help you out.This place seemed like a good deal when you bought it.

We tested 7,500 for a while.Now we are looking at testing 6,500.I feel we are going to test 5,500 as more and more people see that this stimulus package is not going to make that big of an impact, if any.

Kwikset locks often come out of the package with the keyhole "upside down".