My husband is especially uninterested in making payments on this property until we're 80, and hasn't quite caught up to my realization that, even if we are paying $100 in interest every month forever, we get more money out of it that we can "snowball" invest elsewhere.But you all are exactly right - if we haven't been making money all this time (even before the refi), and the property hasn't appreciated by leaps and bounds, we're just losing money AND the opportunity to invest elsewhere.

I've seen a lot of flippers in my town have houses just sit on the market forever because of small errors in judgement on location or finishes. 

Also, $1300 might include PITI but it does not include ongoing repairs, capex, vacancy (he won't be there forever), and property management.

I have been investing in NYC for 2 Decades.In my experience, ALL of my friends and family that did not buy their homes or if they didn't buy their homes, didn't invested in NYC where they actually would have loved to live, have regretted that decision.Buy not buying where they wanted to live in the long term, the ones who did not buy anything, whether or not it was for living or just investing, are forever priced out.When I was teaching, I always encouraged my students to make sure they buy their first investment (or home) in the place they will want to live in the future for the long term.

Wow...I've heard of some horror stories, about multi-family deals taking forever, then falling apart at the end, and we almost had exactly that happen.

Clear deadlines need to be set or else the rehab will go on forever.

Looks like you have all you need to know, up your offer or be in stalemate forever.

If you're waiting for your 1% here, you'll be doing a lot of looking, and unless something drastic happens to our local economy, you're probably going to be looking (not buying) for a very, very long time, if not forever. 

The seller has done nothing to the house in - how longer is forever?

Any agent will be your friend for life.If you have to take forever to make a decision, have to have a boatload of inspections, need creative financing, and can't close on short notice, and are not able to buy when a real deal is presented, then no agent will be investor friendly to you.