Hey guys,             I wanted to start a little discussion mainly to educate myself, build some self confidence from others more experienced and hopefully continue a road map for others like myself. 

In either case, they can't be applied to all cases.My takeaways:1 - Your takeaways should have been understood long before you "jumped in".2 - You probably missed many more important takeaways than the obvious ones you mentioned.This post wasn't meant to criticize you, as much as it was to warn you NOT to continue "just jumping in". 

Even though i didn't really know what i was doing when i got started, the deal ended up being alright for me over the long haul, and allowed me to continue to learn and save up to buy more properties.  

It was really the opportunity we had to continue holding this property for a long term investment while having a renter pay for it.

The two notes are $124 plus the rehab $12k and that is $136k, I refinance at $127k (85% love to have that lined up) seems like Im in for the rehab costs myself which is fine, because there is no immediate repairs to be made anyway with the tenants in place until the summer and happy to continue as is. 

Should we continue saving for a 20% down payment or is that just playing it too slow?

In my opinion the bubble has already burst in Manayunk and while home values will likely continue to rise, it won't be anything like the explosive appreciation growth of the last decade. 

Here's my point, if you drive on the property and the parking lot has pot holes and you can't see the striping, weeds are overgrowing the sign, the exterior of the building has been painted in 15 years or, if brick, has never been power washed, what's going to be your first impression as you drive on the property, if you even make the turn.If you do come on the property everything you look at, even if the interior has been completely renovated, you're going to find fault and continue to look for what else is wrong.That said, as you're renovating the exterior the tenants will actually start to get excited.

It seems continuing to endorse/accruing interest would be the approach if I want the interest. 

I put out the calculations, I also have an incredible history of success and the amount of REAL profits are measured by more than $10 Million.I would say 90% of those who are biased against these future calculations will just continue with their bias.