Total Insurance Estimate $ 262.50 Current rent $ 800.00 $ 9,600.00 $ 10.40       $ 21.88 Less: vacancy allowance - 10% $ 40.00 $ 480.00         Net Rental Income $ 760.00 $ 9,120.00   Property Taxes 2.5264% $ 505.28 Plus: Other Income $ - $ -         Total Income $ 760.00 $ 9,120.00 $ 9.88                 EXPENSES         Property Management $ - $ -         Repairs & Maintenance $ 100.00 $ 1,200.00         HOA $ 250.00 $ 3,000.00         Advertising & Legal         Insurance $ 167.00 $ 2,004.00 $ 2.17         Total Expenses $ 517.00 $ 6,204.00 $ 6.72                 Net Operating Income (NOI) $ 243.00 $ 2,916.00                 Less Debt Service (PI) $155.06 $ 1,860.72 $ 2.02         Less Property Taxes $ 42.11 $ -                 Net Cashflow $ 45.83 $ 1,055.28                 Operating Expense Ratio 68.0% (Total Expenses/Total Income)               MORTGAGE INFO         Total Loan Amount $ 20,000         Type of Loan Seller Financed         Term (Months) 240         Interest Rate .07         Down Payment $ 2,000 10.00%         Monthly Payment (PITI) $155.06                 Purchase Price $ 75,000         Closing costs $ 3,000         Rehab $ 7,000         Total initial investment $ 85,000                 LTV 27% Loan Amount/Purchase Price         Cap Rate 4% Annual NOI/Price         Cash-on-Cash Return 146% Annual before-tax cash flow (i.e., NOI)/Down payment    

A first step for you is to find a Realtor and they can refer you to a lender who has a self-employed loan so you can buy a rental. 

No help beyond that, we’re on the hook for everything.I should mention this was quite a few years ago and Airbnb has since forced VRBO to step up their host support game via Airbnb’s host guarantees and whatnot.

I believe your family would be stepping over dollars to pick up pennies in this situation.Recommend you pay a realtor to negotiate and manage the transaction professionally to closure.

The buyer should pay you at least a deposit upfront and the remainder at closing.One step I do that many people probably do not is I have the seller sign acknowledgement of the assignment contract as well.

So I understand that ROI is your profit (income-mortgage-expenses) divides by total initial investment (maybe down payment+closing costs).So let’s say I’m renting it out and building equity, how how does equity come into play.

The eventual plan is to find a team that can take over these processes so we can step out of the business and work on it not in it. 

I'm now thinking about taking the next step and moving into multi-family.  

Here is a book list for you:"Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings" by Steve Burges"Multifamily Millions" by Dave Lindahl"It's a While New Business" by Gene Trowbridge "How to Create Lifetime Cashflow by Buying Multifamily Properties" by Rod Khelif.To answer your question, LOI is your first step.

Any thoughts on whether to take steps to go forward to aquire it or pass...thanks.