Think about it, I could find a house perfect for my clients then I could go to selling agent and say I have buyers but I am only bring them to you if you agree to increase my commission.

Anything you buy as an investment - if we define investment as increasing your overall financial stores, i.e. getting more money out than you put in - has to gain more value than its present day value, meaning that we have to believe that what we are buying is being sold at some kind of discount relative to its potential.

The one aspect I'd negotiate for is to increase the balloon to 7 or 10 years. 3 or 5 is too short.

With that kind of equity, the elimination of mortgage insurance will offset the increase in rate (or at least soften the blow). 

Everyone is going towards the low hanging fruit (which I get), so I'll stay back and increase my hustle for my desired deal flow.

Do you think it's better to do a FHA on a true duplex and take the increase with the mortgage insurance or to do a cheaper single family where I could create a basement apartment as a makeshift duplex paying the 20% to keep the mortgage low and easier to cover with the rent it would generate?

@Clarence Powell Start with a specific plan for your businessIdentify your farm areaGet a contract ready so that you're prepared to make offers on properties as soon as you find themStart MarketingPut together a buyers listRemain patient, methodical and consistent, it can take months to get your first deal, keep at it and you'll increase your chance of success

For example if the property is $100k and a 5% increase or $5k breaks the deal for you, it may be time to beef up your reserves.

(military isn't bad, but new leases every year or so from what I've heard and very few casino workers as the closest one to yucca valley is 29 palms)I have found the area to be very misunderstood - as people driving by assume meth labs, sex offenders and neonazis  ---  when instead you find millionaire horse/animal lovers, older retirees who feel like they have found shangri-la, and an increasing amount of younger LGBT creative folks re-creating identity in the serenity of the desert. also, $15/hr minimum wage law is underway - going up $1 a year until $15 in 2020. 

You need to take this into account when figuring out how much the tax bill will be for the subsequent years, assuming it is not redeemed right away.