For rentals, that's all I look for is 4 bedrooms, if it's a 3 bdr I make sure it has a basement so I can add an extra bedroom and bath.

One of them is has an extra kitchen in the daylight basement and a separate entrance, so I could rent out the basement and live in the top floor.

Although, I'd reiterate that a half point is nothing to sneeze at, especially when that means extra dough in your pockets each month.

If you want to cashflow well with section 8 or something like that, then sure, bad areas can work if you're willing to put up with extra hassel for a higher % return, but, for rehab to sell, i personally would pass.

In that case, having the extra insurance would be nice as I would see equity out of the situation.At the end of the day, I can pay an extra $15 a month and cover myself better...

Contrary, I remember reading in an investment book that it may be better to go with a 30 year fixed which would result in a few extra dollar today for investing although I would lose nearly as much at the end of 30 years.Danny – I really liked your suggestion and I would seriously consider it if I did not make so much money in the IT industry.

If I were to pony up the $10k, that would throw a wrench in my rehab and will end up costing me even more money since I won't be able to hire out for other repairs.No one at closing caught the error, including the realtor who also received an extra $600 broker's fee for "reviewing the documents" with me.

Brian it just depends on the tenants.I do small increases but not too large.If the tenant has lived their awhile I have to weigh going up 20 bucks a month for 240 extra a year versus them moving,losing a months worth of rent (840) and then putting about 1,000 or more in new carpet paint and repairs.So at 240 extra a year it would take me about 9 years to recoup that money on the unit.It also depends on if you plan holding it that long or not.In my area tenants are barely getting by and lay-offs are happening every month to some.I think right now at least for my area isn't the time to push rent increases strong.I know what you are saying about landlords not increasing the rent for years and years.Some just want full and not deal with the headache anymore.They would rather have full and paying than charge higher rates and have more turnover and struggling from the tenants and more accounting to keep up with at multiple payments per month to pay the total rent.I believe as long as you are close to market rent but under by just a little you are not losing that much.It also depends on how cheap you bought the property.Some buy really cheap and cash flow like a monster because they purchased so low even though below market rents.

For that reason I will charge extra rent each month to cover these costs and I will pay them directly myself.

It takes less than 5 minutes extra.