Phony landlord references are common but I've gotten good at sniffing those out.

Do you think this was a misleading tactic used by the seller, or is this a common way that rental income is reported? 

Originally posted by @Linda Weygant:@Michael Plaks I was basing my post above on the following from Publication 537:Linda, this common confusion comes from the terminology.

The most common way to leverage a residential investment property is with a conventional cash-out refinance at 75% LTV.

If we are talking about a common area I would take care of it ASAP.

Common sense will probably not be used here. 

It seems like the common theme for investing OOS successfully is creating effective teams and systems in the market you'll be investing, and having solid, reliable property management who you communicate with regularly.

Then they set the limit so tenant contribution is no more than 29% of their income.  60% AMI (most common) means the qual income is $36K for 2 people (avg income being $60K). 

Your personal assets are protected from any issues that could arise from investing in real estate. 

You should also look at the downside and have capital reserves should any problems arise in this property.