Like Nathan said, if the price is right, you got a deal.Personally, I don't want to live on a busy street and neither do many other people, but if the purchase price is low enough, you can set the rent very competitively.

My credit is great and I have plenty of cash for the down payment, but i'd like to take advantage of low fixed rates by leveraging as much as possible.BTW I am in Kentucky.

Well I wish you would have posted here BEFORE closing them out.Length of credit history in good standing DOES affect your credit scores.If you have other credit that has a long history it shouldn't affect you that much.If however closing the 3 credit cards with 7 years of history you know only have a few credit lines with only 1 year or 2 of being open that is not great.In the end it shouldn't hurt you too much.When they made the new credit card rules last year or was it the year before credit card companies raised interest rates and annual fees from no fees.So what happened is the great credit people lost benefits because Obama wanted people with bad credit to not be taken advantage of.The credit companies simply restructured to make the same money.So A law passed that had good intentions but was misguided.The government believes when they pass a law people or companies will just take the loss but it never happens.So in the end these laws are just spinning wheels and not doing anything.I know many people who have closed their accounts once interest rates go up or annual fees are imposed.The downside is people want to maintain credit but some credit companies have been closing accounts if you don't use enough and they make a certain amount of interest off of you.It is getting rediculuos.

Along the way I learned a heck of a lot about laws, people and opportunities that could be taken advantage for for a nice profit.

Looking to do printed letters w/ hand addressed envelopes.Haven't kept up with what companies are most competitive recently.

., it would be extremely difficult for them to claim you took advantage of them as innocent homeowners – entity or not.

In addition to the obvious contribution limitations, the dangers of self-dealing, and the liability risks noted above, a self-directed retirement plan also eliminates the ability to take advantage of significant real estate benefits as depreciation and many business deductions.

I'm with you on the validity of the 50% guideline, but you will be at a competitive disadvantage.Many large turn key sellers justify using zero because they're giving you a first year guarantee of the NOI.

Sounds like you took advantage of their error and figured you could over spend on the rehab.....

On commercial properties there are many reasons why a properties full information is not disclosed.1.The property is a vacant REO building and has no numbers besides taxes.2.The bank or receiver took the property over recently and no data was given to them by the old property management company or by the previous owner for adversarial reasons.In these situations you price in the worst case scenarious to be safe.3.In commercial you get many off market properties because the seller doesn't want the sale made public.4.The seller has demanded that minimum info be listed on the listing and only when a buyer is qualified as credible and serious and has signed a confidentiality and disclosure disclosure agreement then the info will be shared.The seller might not want the information of how their property is operating to get into the competitions hands.I do agree that many investors will keep different reserves based on individual preferences.Where this comes in big though is there are industry averages where unless the buyer will be paying all cash or owner finance they will be getting a loan from a commercial lender.This commercial lender will price in reserves to the numbers and marketing costs because if the lender giving the loan has to foreclose they will operate it and value it based on their expenses and not the owner who self manages,does their own pest control,makes their own repairs,etc. to increase margins.This is a number one reason loans do not get funded.An investor shows a deal cash flowing 5,000 a month on a apartment building and the numbers are real.However the commercial lender comes to 3,500 a month cash flow after their analysis of how they would run it an dhow it would perform if they took the property back.This is why owner finance and putting little to no money down to preserve liquidity is the name of the game.Leveraging yourself into as many properties as possible UNDER THE RIGHT TERMS with smart growth taking advantage of the down markets is key.We have real estate niches for a reason.There are different flavors for everyone.It also depends on the investors goals.If they have millions already and are just trying to get a certain return and stay above inflation each year with not much headache then yes turnkey might be the answer for them.If you are going to do that I would go for triple net corporate rated tenants and collect mailbox money than deal with toilets,tenants,and termites,and eviction headaches.I deal with this on my apartments but my returns are way over 7 to 8%.So what you take on versus the expected return is key to doing a deal or not.I find generally landlords once they hit a certain age and life just get tired and want someone to take over their problems.This is when at 36 I still have gas in the tank and I am willing to take on big headaches for big returns.Later in life that might change what kind of portfolio I want to hold and grow.I personally stay away from buyers wanting these little houses for 35,000 that give off 700 a month rent.The investors are out of state and want you to micro-manage for them at 60 bucks a month and it's not worth it.I own many apartment units and even with a maintenance guy and a property manager living on site it can be very intensive to run correctly.It is not as easy as everyone thinks it is especially when most investors will be buying older buildings on value add deals.It's easy when a building is brand new and tenants want to sign up left and right and there are little to no repairs to speak of.When you buy new though you pay a premium for it.If you want to create wealth you need accelerated returns.I have really enjoyed this discussion so far.