If they re short or people have a hard time paying the rent, you will have a lot of turnovers.

Ashley - I don't know if this is a good deal or not - but I did respond to that listing - it looks bad and empty - There could be lots of equity or lots of stress - I like in and out in a short period of time.In my opinion every property offer is a "deal" - Every property offered is or could be a good deal -The only thing that make a property a bad deal is PRICEEvery property will sell if the price is rightTime on the market and price (reduction) are close cousins -Price softens as time moves on and motivation and reality is realizedEverything will sell at a price -The first thing I'd want to do is get the history of the property - how long on the market, why is it vacant - what's the reason for selling -What is the current mortgage balance - is it current or in the arrears - What other liens or obligations are on the propertyHow many owners - decision makersWhat is the commission - will agent splitAre there open to a reasonable and creative offerDo they want any profit or to just get it out of their nameCan down payment be paid over timeHow much paper with they accept - delayed payments - principal mortgageAshley - since you exposed this property to all of us - You should see if you can get the answers to those questions above - and play the game - WHAT WOULD I OFFER?

I am new to the Real Estate Investing game.

That leaves me $10k short and my plan is to get creative to cover that amount. 

My plan is use the equity short term and paying it off as move it from one investment to another.

However, I do know that I want to get into properties as soon as possible perhaps when I graduate so my plans right now is to save, network, find a mentor and develop my understanding of the game. 

It has been listed for a couple of months now and not selling and here is what I know:It was purchased in 4 or 5 months ago as a short sale for 150kThe owner put mayyybe 15K into fixing a few things like electric, the porch, etc.

My wife is a licensed real estate agent, and I will be testing for my license here shortly.

Unless you are highly leveraged and don't have much "skin in the game" as they say, your cash on cash return will be very low.  

Now Im REALLY torn as to what to do with that information (meaning I pay taxes and I know this tenant is gaming the system... and Im supporting that by not letting the Section 8  folks know about it?