Michael X - Thanks for posting the definition, that provides a detailed explanation of the term.Rich, while you stated you are in disagreement with what I said, your very own post regarding this article proves my point, that personal residence equity (or negatove equity) is not counted.

I'm not sure how valuable his network is to us since the professionals he has worked with aren't necessarily those making the decisions, nor are they geographically relevant, being located primarily in the north east.

If he won't give you any explanation as to what the charges are, chances are he is not truthful in other areas as well.

It is unlawful for a person, in connection with the application for or procurement of a loan secured by real estate to: (1) Employ a device, scheme, or artifice to defraud; (2) Make an untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statement made, in the light of the circumstances under which it is made, not misleading; (3) Receive any portion of the purchase, sale, or loan proceeds, or any other consideration paid or generated in connection with a real estate closing that such person knew involved a violation of this section; or (4) Influence, through extortion or bribery, the development, reporting, result, or review of a real estate appraisal, except that this subsection does not prohibit a mortgage lender, mortgage broker, mortgage banker, real estate licensee, or other person from asking the appraiser to do one or more of the following: (a) Consider additional property information; (b) Provide further detail, substantiation, or explanation for the appraiser's value conclusion; or (c) Correct errors in the appraisal report in compliance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.2.

If you really have an understanding of your own market and future trends, and have a good team - doesn't matter where that is geographically - and you really have the numbers crunched for worse case scenarios, you can be successful.

Those explanations make sense.

Reading reminds me of Baltimore City in a lot of ways, just not on such a big geographical scale.  

^^^^^Highly recommend sit down (once) and create a simply worded lease explanation doc that goes through clause by clause and explains them.

If they can give me a reasonable explanation (medical problem, job loss, car accident, etc) I don't worry too much.

So I guess it comes down to what OOS means to you geographically speaking.