I will not buy a house in a flood zone just given the extra insurance required and liabilities...especially if your plan is to buy and hold.Even if there has never been history of flooding, there is always a chance.

In other words, they are required to work against you when it comes to price and terms.Yes, there are no doubt unethical agents who will screw the seller by accepting a lower offer so they get paid on both sides, but most of us (and I think it's the overwhelming majority of us) aren't about to risk fines, lawsuits or loss of license for an extra commission.

. $5,500 installed.So with 2 new different brand systems and vendors, is it recommended to pay the extra $725 for vendor 2?

Often this is like buying a Prius to save money on gas you will never recapture on the life of the car considering the extra capital outlay.The main thing is to check what successful landlords are doing in your area that rent at your price point.

If you have in your lease then you can explain to her that maybe you didn't communicate it to her very well and that you would consider waving the additional charges for her still being behind in rent if she paid now.Otherwise, you need to decide if you want to keep the extra headache of trying to collect rent whenever she wants to pay, or get a new tenant.

The HOAs are not going the extra step to get certified.  

Not a big difference but I do have some equity to free up that can be used towards a future down payment.My biggest issue is that I have great credit and would be more concerned about the potential negative effect of a credit inquiry, and might be better served simply using the good credit (as is with no further inquiries) in order to borrow a bit more (instead of a refi for extra down payment money).

I still have no idea why people use buyers agents instead of dealing directly with the listing agent.Unless you don't know the area well and need advice or you otherwise don't understand how the home buying process works, I can't see a need.I find they cloud things up and create an extra layer of mesh to get through.

If there is no escrow account open with the down payment (extra cash on top of rent) going to that account, where is it going?

So not having those reserves is just really high risk in my opinion.I dont want to discourage you, I just know that on my first flip i ended up needing an extra 10k for holding costs in the end I still made money but if I hadn't had the resources at the time I would have been in really big trouble.