A question on fair housing for our legal eagles...I have a unit which I think is going to turn over soon. First time for me! For various reasons, I'd really like to get a tenant in there who has personal roots/ties in...

Planning on taking the next few months to soak up as much knowledge as I can before diving in.Looking for recommendations on markets that can cash-flow and aren't too sketchy so I can start learning how to run numbers and examine an area (just in view mode right now, but might as well be in an area that I can dive into when ready).Currently live in the SF bay area, so there's really not much local that works.  

@Marshall Hooper Wouldn't this kill your credit to open up and run up $100k in credit card debt?

Additionally, with the City adopting the IBC 2015 and inspectors becoming increasingly difficult to work with, we've labor costs go up and soft cost on the design & engineering side go up as well.   

The house has natural gas lines running to the gas furnace, the kitchen and the laundry room. 

It might not make sense to do a 1031 exchange.In PA, state income tax will be due on the gain even if you do a 1031 exchange.You will have to pay a qualified intermediary (QI) to handle the 1031 exchange; that might run in the ballpark of $1000 or so.If you already held for a year, you are now into long term capital gains tax rate rather than short term.

I keep a running log of all properties that I get financials on in Berwyn, where I invest, so that I can know what expenses should look like on properties when underwriting. 

I would only say dont buy for appreciation because at some point our 5 year run up in prices will stop.

I know the traditional advice would always be to start a business if you have a high likelihood of running it successfully. 

After the loan is paid off you only have $6,500 remaining ($82,500 - $76,000 = $6,500) to account for your cash invested.Given that you already have a decent interest rate (4.88%) I would not run the risk of a higher rate with the Refinance.This appears to be a good cash flowing deal.