No city is expecting a ton of boom right now because of where the general real estate economy is, but there are less matured cities with much higher returns. 

If a tenant 'disappears', it's usually because of financial issues and that they have already been served disconnect notices by the utility company and once power and heat get turned off, they figure that the game is over and move out, leaving a mess and broken pipes behind (especially in the freezing winter temps).  

As you'd expect, the Dave Ramsey guy is telling me to pay off the remaining $110k on my 3.75% FHA loan with my cash ASAP.

What would be your expected return if you invested that other 15% some other way?

You may find out the costs are more than you expect.

Such lenders expect 30-40% down and 10-15% in reserves.I would suggest keeping that $10K in a conventional IRA separate from your new 401k so you will have control over it. 

Hello BP Pros,I am working on my first flip.We closed on Friday and expect a 5-8 week rehab and then to sell in July/Aug .

Meet with attorneys to get a better understanding of what to expect and decide if you’d like to retain a lawyer.

Two areas where I build a safety margin are cash on hand (I want to be able to make   x  number of payments with no correlated income) and spread (the difference between rents and all expected expenses ie expected cash flow--the higher this number is the easier it becomes to make the debt payments)So for example say I am looking at a duplex for 100K and I have 50K in cash. 

He needed something to close that week, so Monday was too late (His 'pending offer' had til the friday before, how could he expect to close with another buyer during that period?).