This may factor into being able to argue that you are trying to keep up with the trends in the market.Do you do any flipping?

Back end can technically go to 45%, I think, but only if excellent credit and compensating factors that will improve the ratio in the next 12 mths, for example.

That was my first thought as well, but then I realized that there is principal pay-down that needs to be factored in; I don't have a calculator handy, but I'm guessing it's somewhere between 4-5%.Still crazy cheap, though!

Great Ideal for many, but it drove my multi-units rental rates from $500 to $425 a month.

My question has to do with how much more you can realistically get for a house with "wow" factor.

Factoring in a 30-year mortgage, $1,200 in annual home insurance, closing costs of $5,500 and maintenance costs of $100 a month, along with property taxes, he calculated that it would take a selling price, 10 years later, of $395,404 just to break even.

I have not raised rents in the 2 1/2 years I've owned it but have reduced the vacancy factor to near zero.

It's pretty straight forward and based on your pictures it looks like you've got an ideal candidate for it.

Since I'm new to real state investement, I wonder what would be the ideal return normally for a buy and hold strategy.

Interest rates have some effect or influence, but there are a number of other factors (unemployment, economic outlook, population growth, household creation/consolidation, consumer confidence, tax codes, etc.) that are more powerful in determining housing prices.