You might burn some human capital (like, frustrate your broker/banker/lawyer or the other side) if you go under contract then find something you don't like and don't buy... but obvious I'd prefer to do that than to buying a house with expensive or difficult issues.I know from experience that FHA loans for 3+ family homes can be a little challenging (they have to meet a "self sufficiency" test, where the rents for the units have to substantiate the carrying cost of the property).

That said, if I didn't prefer to work a full-time job and invest on the side, and was willing to put in the time needed to make large amounts of leverage less risky, I'd definitely consider taking the cash out and leveraging up on the next one!

It would result in a better answer for tax purposes since you'll have lower taxable income but would investors prefer to have a higher NOI number instead?

My clients typically prefer a new year's lease or longer, especially to include any increase in rent, and to bring the end-date into the late-spring, early-summer months.

I prefer a 3 br single family house.  

Prefer to stay under $100k but will consider slightly over.  

Hi all.I figure it's time to introduce myself, having lurked, watched several webinars and taken in 12 hours of BP Podcasts over the past month or so.Anyway, my name is Craig, I live near Manchester, England, and I have absolutely ZERO experience in Real Estate.However, having seen my uncle and his 2 sons do really well in RE, and having nothing in the way of a retirement plan/fund (and being 44), I figure it's time to get off my butt and come up with a plan.Having looked around, RE seems like the way to go but, like a lot of people, pretty much everything I have is tied up my home and , as we only moved to this property 2 years ago, we don't have a massive amount of equity in it yet.Therefore, I need to find out how much of what i am reading/hearing on BP actually applies to UK Real Estate for a start (obviously, things like the MLS don't exist here - at least not to my knowledge) and how I can start doing something in the next 1-2 years.I could go to my cousins for advice, but we've never been a particularly close family and I don't want to just turn up and start asking for handouts (any advice they give could potentially impact their own business, as they buy-to-rent in an area less than 10 miles from me).I would prefer to get in to buy-to-rent (or buy-and-hold as I believe it's called over there), as I have a full-time IT job, that I am not looking to give up any time soon.Also, if any other UK-based members have advice on the best way to deal with the banks, any specific rules/pitfalls over here, whether the auction is the only place to buy smaller, cheap properties that need rehab (every man and his dog seems to go there, though, thanks to programmes like Homes Under the Hammer).Anyway. 

I usually prefer consistency and a pattern but that is just me.  

That's great information - I think my preference is to not do student rentals at least initially, so I'd target non-student (or graduate student) rentals.Tim

You need to mask and check with your preferred lender as some banks can require more equity then the standard 20%.