The one time I went to a listing agent to get leverage to get my offer accepted, she was a total flake and besides several other investors went to her with the same idea so I really had very little advantage.

i guess i'm one of the blind sheep that follows the pack...i agree permits are a pain and a ridiculous fee that the government mandates...however, they do serve a purpose...i didn't see if you specified who ran the sewer line..my understanding was the seller himself did it...that's a different story than having a licensed plumber do it on a weekend and not pulling the permit (not advocating this approach either, just separating possibilities).

Cash on cash is your total return divided by your cash invested.

IMO it was totally worth it.

I didn't think leaving the scene of an accident was a felony offence.I did that once when I was very young and was never criminally charged - although I did have to pay for a totalled car (took about 15 years of payments to do that!)

"land being sold in the area"Just like you compare houses you compare the land.Has to be apples to apples.You can't compare a commercial piece of land or main street frontage with a residential lot in a subdivision.Those are two totally different animals.The tax assessment has nothing to do with value of the lot.

Your total payments (PITI)at the end of year one will be $1970*12 = $23640.

Even if I am lucky to get mortgage loans to buy 6 more houses to reach a total of 10, Fannie Mae would not allow more loans beyond that.

Some people naturally assume (totally reasonable to make this assumption), that if you have a large property, you can sell a portion to someone else who wants to build.

Be warned, short sales are a total PITA and often can take 6+ months to close (if they even close at all).