This is a classic case of an HOA that has some vague language in the rules and then has a Board Member who is trying to use the vagueness of the rule to insert her personal aesthetic on the community.

Here's my usual deal:35k purchase 800 a month rent50% rule - 400 for expenses350 for HELOC loan (90 going to interest rest going to principal) - 7 year am :(I'm getting 7% ROR off of the financed amt, but I didn't put any money into it.

:)Better read the flipping forums, wholesale will help, search for "valuation" "appraisal" will give you plenty on valuation of your deal.In the Buy and Hold area, the 2% 50% rules will lead into valuations, cash flow and rental expenses, even though you are doing this, you still need to know to present your property to other investors.

Since you were talking about building new properties, I put the expenses at 45% instead of following the 50% rule precisely.

I found a rental house with great cash flow (even after 50% rule!)

The best way to learn the current rules is to probably call a lender and see what is going on at the present time, however I found a PDF guide produced by a lender (of which I have no affiliation with) that seems to nicely outlay the current FHA rules.I thought it may be helpful for those who are just starting out and looking to learn about FHA financing to have this guide available.Here it is:http://www.pcmwholesale.com/getform.aspx?

I was looking at a 4-plex near my home and saw that there were probably 20 identical buildings on the same street, all looked identical except for paint, etc.

Having worked in management for some very big companies, I can promise you that these types of things are the rule, not the exception.Btw, it's not (necessarily) that the people running the company are stupid -- they just don't have the bandwidth to focus on processes that would keep them from doing stupid things.

Solo 401k is exempt from this rule.

I'd also ask about any architectural requirements (in case you ever build or sell) as we just last year found out that a home we've owned for 15 years actually has specific HOA architectural rules, which is apparently a separate book from the resale disclosure packet (neither were provided as I bought that one at auction, paid for the disclosure packet later but didn't know to ask for the other one).