Or if you were renting and were no where near prepared to buy a house before the disaster, probably not a good idea, you'd still need cash for closing costs, which can come as a "gift" but never a good idea to buy a house with no money in the bank even if the lender actually let you do it. 

@Jake Walroth your question is a bit vague, it depends on what type of property you were actually buying.

depending on when you actually stopped living in the home you may still get the sale of primary residence exclusion.

My other commercial prop is auto related; this is a different industry.Taylor: a bit more about the prop: it is technically 16' clear height, but that is for the drive thru wall-the actual roof hieght is 24'.

Just to clarify it is the community owner that controls the quality of sub lease tenants not the home owner.The problem however that you would face is the owner of the homes will actually control your business.

Now does no money down, actually mean absolutely no money down, or does it mean something else?

@Timothy Martin  I use actual MLS data - one of the benefits of being a licensed agent.Zillow's "zestimates"are notoriously bad.  

I cannot find out whether the loan is actually going to be defaulted on.The customer service is horrible so my advice - STAY AWAYFinally, my email to them is marked SOLVED as if to say that they adequately and fairly answered my questionI am just glad that I limited myself to the one small investment

One-time Expenses$1000 - Acquisition Costs (minor rehab, legal, & inspection)Annualized Expenses10% Gross Annual Rent - Vacancy Costs (turnover & lost rent)10% Gross Annual Rent - Property Mgmt (standard)$1176 - Repairs & CapEx ($1 per sq foot for tpical property)$1516.46 - Property Taxes (5 year historical average for typical property + 10%)$1000 - Property Insurance (a nice round number: seller reported that he paid $708/mo for one duplex)$27 - Water & Sewer (average across several properties from last month)$0 - Gas, Electric, HOA, Snow Removal (tenant pays or not applicable)$60 - Lawn Care (I made this number up)COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS:This is my analysis of the five properties that are being negotiated right now, listed from best to worst.Property Alpha (two-flat)$1250 - Income, Monthly (actual)$567.37 - Expenses, Monthly (estimated)$42,000 - Price, Signed Contract36% - Cap Rate (Annualized Income / Price)16.6% - ROI, After Tax (annually, assuming 15% income tax)6.0 Yrs - Until this property pays itself offProperty Bravo (two-flat)$1100 - Income, Monthly (actual)$537.37 - Expenses, Monthly (estimated)$42,500 - Price, Signed Contract31% - Cap Rate (Annualized Income / Price)13.1% - ROI, After Tax (annually, assuming 15% income tax)7.6 Yrs - Until this property pays itself offProperty Charlie (duplex)$1075 - Income, Monthly (actual)$532.37 - Expenses, Monthly (estimated)$55,000 - Price, Informal Discussion23% - Cap Rate (Annualized Income / Price)10.7% - ROI, After Tax (annually, assuming 15% income tax)10.3 Yrs - Until this property pays itself offProperty Delta (SFR)$875 - Income, Monthly (actual)$492.37 - Expenses, Monthly (estimated)$48,000 - Price, Informal Discussion22% - Cap Rate (Annualized Income / Price)8.8% - ROI, After Tax (annually, assuming 15% income tax)13.6 Yrs - Until this property pays itself offProperty Echo (SFR)$770 - Income, Monthly (actual)$471.37 - Expenses, Monthly (estimated)$62,500 - Price, Informal Discussion15% - Cap Rate (Annualized Income / Price)4.1% - ROI, After Tax (annually, assuming 15% income tax)24.4 Yrs - Until this property pays itself offNotice how the price keeps going up?

@Kevin LefeuvreI have a similar story which I'll share, but remember as you read this that I once worked for the original founders of VRBO before Homeaway bought it (and after Homeaway bought it, actually.)