However, what I do have is this wonderful site that has brought you and I to the very same location at this moment in time.  

One caveat to the "first in time, first in line" rule is that a mortgage may be subordinated to a later filed mtg.

I've still got the original tenants that are paying substantially under market value, but they pay on time, on the 1st, every month and are pleasant to live next to, so I'll sacrifice a couple hundred a month for that at the moment.  

The only reason (I can think of) was we intimated to the seller that we wanted to keep the old groundskeeper who had lived onsite for >19 years.

@Andre Vaughn My advice is think from the perspective of the investor a few months down the road when he is selling the house after repairs are done, his end buyers will go the a bank for finance, the bank will lend the money based in the market value determined by an appraiser, the appraiser will look for RECENT sales of SIMILAR properties located CLOSE BY Many wholesalers sent you comps from houses located a mile away when there has been cheaper sales in the same block or cheaper sales earlier in time, or compare with bigger or newer houses or with luxury renovationsTypically a bank will like comparables of similar properties in a quarter mile radius in the last 3 to 6 months (they adjust it depending on the neighborhood and the property but in general this protects the bank from mistakes) Your investor typically want to rehab and resell quickly (to avoid hard money interests and other expenses), so he will not price it at the top possible price in the area because he wants it to be attractive to possible buyers and realtors.  

The security deposit in its entirety should stay in your bank account until a future point in time when all tenants have vacated the unit and returned possession to you.  

In time they will tell you not to smoke in your own car or home.

Since you have the HELOC in place now....one important thing to note is that a credit score is a based on a snapshot in time. 

absolutely december and january for me....holidays put a huge dent in tenant's bank accounts...but by late jan. and february come around, tenants are getting their refunds back just in time to give me a deposit!!

Lower taxes, lots of acreage available, more pleasant weather.Get a TX map and look west of SAT around Bandera/Medina, draw a line from there north that parallels Interstate 35, to about San Saba.