Anthony, I don't think there is a standard "one size fits all" way to get started.

There are one bedroom apartments renting for $900 a month in the Spring area so based on the size and being familiar with the area $1,495 sounds good.

Additionally, the reason we hesitate to sell is because we've got an accessory apt in basement with income stream as well as a separate office for where I work every day (self employed).

The condition of the house, the property size, location, age of the house, finish work, etc. all weigh in to valuations.

I am currently employed as an engineer and working on paying of my first home.My plan is to finish paying off my primary residence before moving on to conservative buy and hold investment in a couple nearby cities. 

I think it's still the case here in Charleston County that you can add an accessory dwelling of up to 800 sqft as long as your lot meets certain minimum lot size requirements.  

Everyone has their opinion on what is acceptable but personally I wouldn't be getting into personal conversations over why someone has bad credit and what they are doing about it etc.What about income levels and length of employment?  

Sites like Zillow and RentOMeter say that my ask of $1400 for rent is near the top of the market for the area, but still reasonable for a unit of this size - and that is even without the basement.So does the basement effectively get thrown in for free?

If so, just send me a "colleague request" under "connect" and I'll send it.I'm from Canada so I'm not sure what FHA loans are like, but here, if you're self-employed, the bank is more inclined to give you a mortgage if the property makes its own money.

The current owner is shopping it around for 1.35m (7cap) and the proforma numbers are as followed: ANNUALIZED INCOMEActual MarketGross Potential Rent $191,639 Less: Vacancy ($5,749) Effective Gross Income $185,890 Less: Expenses ($91,497) Net Operating Income $94,393 Debt Service ($65,592) Net Cash Flow after Debt Service $28,801 Principal Reduction $17,403Total Return $46,204 ANNUALIZED EXPENSESActual MarketProperty Management Fee $9,582 Replacement Reserves $5,250 Building Insurance $6,712 Maintenance $12,560 Taxes - Real Estate $36,296 (37220 w/o exception)Utility - Electricity $2,453 Utility - Gas $12,369Utility - Water/Sewer $6,275 Total Expenses $91,497 Expenses Per RSF $8.39 Expenses Per Unit $4,357I did some additional digging and found that they offer Wi-Fi for the building (I talked to a rep and said providing service for a building that size should run 285 a month) and the trash was left off which runs about 285/month.