Here I Phoenix I have about given up on finding decent single families in good neighborhoods.

I guess it would depend on the neighborhood.

I understand why the banks want skin in the game, I was more concerned that there was a Fed rule that disallowed this type of bank behavior.Looks like I need to keep shopping.

It's been a great 2012 already.1) Closed on the sale of one of our rentals (which was my personal home at one point).2) Closed on a tough duplex deal for a buyer client. 3) Refinanced 2 of our duplexes.4) Had record level blog traffic. 5) Started shopping for our own new home. 6) Kept up with my workout plans.I should mention that #1 and #2 were both difficult for similar reasons that Thomas mentioned.

If you shop it on craigslist, you can probably do a little better.

I used to do these for fun years ago and soon remembered (after posting this) that my primary way of tracking one down is to visit my friendly neighborhood county recorder's office and search for loans by the same lender (HSB) and see who canceled/discharged them.

In my area, if you do the work, you can get a 1200sqft 3/2 in a decent neighborhood.

Holding 20 years you'll probably get a new roof, appliances and how many paint jobs.....The neighborhood will be 20 years older,that 100k ranch style could be nearing 40/50 years old.

I don't want to waste their time or mine because there was some feature of the house or neighborhood that's a dealbreaker for me.

The problem is, I don't really want to own in that neighborhood.