The buyer does then "own" all rights to the position in the contracts, even though their name(s) aren't listed on there as the buyer (they have the assignment docs & all the disclosures that prove their ownership).But what I recommend doing is having the attorney print out an additional set of docs (with identical terms) so the new buyer can sign that set with the seller directly (sometimes some utilities require the tenant buyer to show a lease between them & the seller directly).

One thing that comes to mind--what if there's an energy crunch in the future that drives up utilities costs and larger houses become less desirable?

They require that you fax the deed, utility bills, etc. to them to prove that you are a landlord, but they don't require that an inspector come out to your house to see if the credit reports are in a locked room, like some other services do.

As an experienced DIY'er, with at least SOME cash, you might well be able to utilize a hard money lender to get into that 70k property in a better area of town.

Longevity and utilization are important as mentioned above.

Mortgage+taxes+PMI is $2000 and Maintenance+utilities is $650.

More and more, I am coming across homes that have all their utilities off, how are you guys handling inspections during due diligence if the utilities are off?

Apparently Personal Real Estate Investor Magazine agrees, as they intend to push an effort, along with an accounting firm, to establish and publish standards for companies to follow on a voluntary basis, which would entail the inclusion of these expense items in advertisements.

Some add a laundry room for additional income, but I have found the income versus the utility outlay does not always balance out.

I would not provide utilities.