the number looks great, but if it's not in good area, you'll need to spend $2-3,000 easily whenever the tenant moves out.

I have a first loan at $384K and I'm looking to get a HELOC (home equity line of credit) for between $150K and $200K which would still keep me below a LTV of 80% pretty easily.

In addition it is easily fixed.

Jack,The only filtering I would do is to make sure they owned a house in the areas I want to invest in.

Once you are licensed you could easily work in RE and go to school and make it work (especially if you are active and smart enough to not be paying rent like you are)!

As a result, I'm able to easily identify the areas that are good for investors in our region, as well as properties that are undervalued.  

I'm thinking if other investors are scared off just because of the foundations composition and age, I might be able to get a really good deal if it is still in good working shape and can be easily maintained for the next 10-20 years.  

Filter all the noise.Frank

I'm planning 20% down, and the payment on the building is easily manageable with my salary even if all 9 units where somehow vacant at any point.Thanks for the help!

Short sales can easily take longer than 5 months to close.4) Has anyone noticed any common pitfalls of this strategy?