Because I don't want to pay for someone who lies or changes their mind.I'm crystal clear about what I am looking for, so people can easily weed themselves out before paying the application fee.The tenants pay the whole fee to the website I am using. 

I could easily put in an additional 30k or so and purchase something in the range of $800K.

You don't want to find costly issues after closing that a home inspector could have easily identified. 

The reason for the seller's willingness to discount that much in today's climate, from what info I have so far, is due to the extremely low rate on the modified loan (less than 2%, recast for a new 30 year term).So due to the rate, even at 50% of UPB, the return on my investment would be around 4% after considering servicing fees, etc., which is not nearly enough to interest me in this deal, considering the risks of borrower re-default, etc. 

Along with higher return potential, MF allows you to separate your living space from your tenants.There is a lot to learn, BP is a wealth of information.

I’ve seen the same pattern that @Frank Wong is referring to....a long run-up, then a modest 2-year drop, then a 2-year return to the previous high, then another long run-up.

With the holding costs and risk involved the return is not that great.Asking : 250kARV Gut rehab , A plus rehab : 475 KARV cosmetic rehab : Not sure1.5 story , unfinished basement4 bed , 2 bath - 1700 Sq ftMy question is : When should we consider a gut vs cosmetic rehabFew things I thought about :1.

To see how stable it is.  4K a month on 1.9M is 2.5 percent return which is awful.  

We would easily be able to rent it either year round or Airbnb since we're in a very touristy area  -- and that's exactly the plan!

@Michael Bennett If you do the math you are still making a decent cash return!