I do this to reduce tours to only people who are serious and who would even qualify.

If I use the banks title company they will pay closing costs and title insurance so I am looking to reduce my expenses.

This combined with the fact the insulation would be coming out of the two walls we needed to fix, reenforced the decision to insulate the entire main level with closed cell spray foam.Once the subfloor was up, we learned the unevenness of the slab was more so than anticipated; The stairs to the second floor were not hung properly - I'm amazed they never moved in the past 20 years.Since we were now into more than a full gut on the main floor {with the framing repairs}, a decision was made to "patch-up" the second floor, rather than gutting it as well, as an effort to reduce the newly forecasted spend. 

Upsides: I like this because it allows me to put 0 money down, waives me of mortgage insurance payments, and I build equity with a reduced cost of living as I will have room for 2-3 known roommates.

In the last 3 months we have reduced our monthly expenses by over $600, just because we were objectively making better choices each month.I know that Ramsey's advice on investing is not popular on sites like BP...but it's hard to argue with his take on personal finance, budgeting and using cash instead of plastic.

This can be reduced by paying off some of the OT/Yrly debt.  

The goals are to reduce liability legally, be able to pool resources when going through underwriting(Person A can claim rental income, and pass underwriting, they may share with Person B, but Person B is not involved directly with this particular transaction.What entity and structure will best meet these goals?  

The price is going to be higher because of the stable cash flow, but your risk is reduced as well.

Some get a warm and fuzzy having a hard number bid to reduce the unknowns, but generally end up paying more for it.

But let's say the LTV drop doesn't kick them out, or they come up with extra funds, the loan is fundced.Now remember the credit given under the contract, that is included on the HUD 1 and reduces the amount received by the seller and is credited to the buyer, but the loan is not required to be fund at that original requested amount.