The city zoning has the home listed as single family, but the previous owner added in a second meter for the basement it looks like.It would be advantageous for me to have it appraised and classified as single family since it will me a lower down payment, but the lender has indicated he thinks the appraiser will say it’s multi since the basement has a kitchen.I’m unfamiliar with the specifics on this situation.

It's been 2 weeks and the kind of applications we are getting are far from ideal...bad credit scores, delinquencies, hard to figure out how much do they make (meaning self employed in some cases) are some of the issues that made me reject 4 applications so far.My property manager (who helped me buy the house) has posted the ad on all relevant websites, we have priced it at the lower end of the range at which similar homes are listed in the area, but still not happy with the applications.I would be interested to hear what folks, knowledgeable about the Austin market, think...is there more that we can do?

The wholesaler has said they can't give me my deposit back unless they sell the home to someone else because they have $4,000 of their own earnest money that they will lose on the property of it's not sold.So far they've been unable to sell the property and have lowered the price $10,000.Is there anything I can do to try and get my deposit back or at least lodge a complaint for not disclosing the prior sinkhole before I sent in my deposit? 

I get why some sellers are desperate enough to cash in their chips for a discount, but not so much why they would accept lower monthly drip feed than they could arrange for themselves?

Many are stubborn about lowering price though. 

Otherwise, I was going to look for a bank loan and try to get something that charges me as I draw  (vs getting one big loan all at once) and slightly lower interest.

If current expenses for the property for instance 65%, can you lower it to 55% or less.

Unless you have the actual financial data to back your analysis you would be better served staying conservative using something closer to the 50% rule for expenses.It could be a possible deal if you could have a lower Purchase price and/or room to raise rents.

Just the lower tax rates alone would pay for property management and still give you a better return.

So maybe these might be alternatives.Provided that 12 months of rent are all paid no later than the 5th, you could:*Guarantee a lower rent increase on lease renewals (1%-2%)* Offer inexpensive but high perceived value items (i.e. big screen TV) for lease renewals * Provide a Winter Fuel Credit in December if tenants pay for heating fuel * Offer a choice of unit upgrades that you may have been planning to do anyway (repaint, new appliance, ceiling fans, etc.)Basically, find ways to incentivize and reward your tenants with something other than a rent discount.