Just because you don't live at a property, doesn't mean it's going to be considered a "commercial mortgage" or that a lender is going to use the property's income/cashflow as the sole basis for qualifying you for a loan.

I have pulled off many deals by providing my exprtise with others, but you'll need to really have marketable skills to do so.

@Kim BlattYou may want to look into a self-directed solo 401k plan if you are looking for ultimate control over your retirement funds.Following are the similarities and differences between the solo 401k and the self-directed IRA.The Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k Similarities Both were created by congress for individuals to save for retirement;Both may be invested in alternative investments such as real estate, precious metals tax liens, promissory notes, private company shares, and stocks and mutual funds, to name a few;Both allow for Roth contributions;Both are subject to prohibited transaction rules;Both are subject to federal taxes at time of distribution;Both allow for checkbook control for placing alternative investments;Both may be invested in annuities;Both are protected from creditors;Both allow for nondeductible contributions;Both are prohibited from investing in assets listed under I.R.C. 408(m).The Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k DifferencesIn order to open a solo 401k, self-employment, whether on a part-time or full-time basis, is required;To open a self-directed IRA, self-employment income is not required;In order to gain IRA checkbook control over the self-directed IRA funds, a limited liability company (IRA LLC)  must be utilized;The solo 401k allows for checkbook control from the onset;The solo 401k allows for personal loan known as a solo 401k loan;It is prohibited to borrow from your IRA;The Solo 401k may be invested in life insurance;The self-directed IRA may not be invested in life insurance;The solo 401k allow for high contribution amounts (for 2016, the solo 401k contribution limit is $53,000, whereas the self-directed IRA contribution limit is $5,500);The solo 401k business owner can serve as trustee of the solo 401k;The self-directed IRA participant/owner may not serve as trustee or custodian of her IRA; instead, a trust company or bank institution is required;When distributions commence from the solo 401k a mandatory 20% of federal taxes must be withheld from each distribution and submitted electronically to the IRS by the 15th of the month following the date of each distribution;Rollovers and/or transfers from IRAs or qualified plans (e.g., former employer 401k) to a solo 401k are not reported on Form 5498, but rather on Form 5500-EZ, but only if the air market value of the solo 401k exceeds $250K as of the end of the plan year (generally 12/31);When funds are rolled over or transferred from an IRA or 401k to a self-directed IRA, the amount deposited into the self-directed IRA is reported on Form 5498 by the receiving self-directed IRA custodian by May of the year following the rollover/transfer.Rollovers (provided the 60 day rollover window is satisfied) from an IRA to a Solo 401k or self-directed IRA are reported on lines 15a and 15b of Form 1040;Pre-tax IRA contributions on reported on line 32 of Form 1040;Pre-tax solo 401k contributions are reported on line 28 of Form 1040;Roth solo 401k funds are subject to RMDs;A Roth 401k may be transferred to a Roth IRA (Note that from a planning perspective, it may be advantageous to transfer Roth Solo 401k funds to a Roth IRA before turning age 70 ½ in order to escape the Roth RMD requirement applicable to Roth 401k contributions including Roth Solo 401k contributions and earnings.)

I bet if pricing were opposite Don, pretty boy were cheapest and the other crew the more expensive, you would have been happy and proud to have paid the more to the skilled pro guys and gotten things done right and timely.

You also need to manage the property manager and understand the criterion that will be applied to qualifying tenants and how will repairs be handled. all these are issues for any landlord but they are all amplified when you are out of state.

Pre-qualifies all Buyers so as not to tie up properties in vain.

I don't think you can circumvent this, you'd have to qualify with the PITIA of the condo.

I wonder if these guys are justifying to themselves their poor management skills with these comments.

My perference is to go with a lender who will require the least amount of my own money in the deal (even if that means higher points/rates) although I have the cash reserves (I would like to keep the reserves for qualifiing and emergency purposes).

Both houses had to re-qualify under new code criteria and now all monies received from HUD through the local housing commission is direct deposit.