In these areas you ONLY buy for appreciation since cash flow is almost impossible.

Bill Gulley Regarding "I've never heard of it costing more per person" in NC that is true with the legal complaint filing at small claims via the clerk of court, but the sheriff service cost is $30 per person in Wake county.

Right now, I really don't have much capital and my debt to income ratio is horrible-which would make applying for and obtaining home loans next to impossible.

I haven't used it to create an LLC, but would use their service for this if I was doing a basic, small company setup.Anytime I'm creating legal docs for an entity that has a substantial amount of money involved or potential liability issues (i.e. pretty much any real estate venture I'm involved in), I use a lawyer.Lynn

•The actual process of purchasing a house, what goes into it, what legal concerns the buyer should have.

If not I would stop until you have legal counsel.

Interesting side notes-1) the two current tenants are longterm 4+ years, but are also not clean and tidy at all.2) there are several very nice houses in this neighborhood, but the one next door is condemned (in tax default), and a house a couple blocks over has been destroyed completely by fire.3) Comps of SF and MF homes are all over the place in the area and it's pretty much impossible to get comps on this type of unit even going back 2 years.Any suggestions on how I should factor the current tenants, neighborhood, comps or empty unit potential???

I am not in the business of disagreeing with legal counsel, but you may want to simply chat up another attorney to see what their take on the matter is around your specific situation, they may be other opinions.

You will probably have to find a broker with a brokers license in both states if you legally can't get your own brokers license right away.1.

Another book I will recommend is:Every Landlord's Guide to Finding Great Tenants by Janet PortmanThe author is an attorney so she covers all the legal issues about renting property.