RE Agent and Possible Deals

After a few emails Friday with the RE agent I've been in contact with, she sent me a list of four homes that met the critria I gave her. One was definately out of the question, another was an REO, and the last two piqued my interest. After some document searching, I found the last two were bought together by the same person in 1997. The deed did not mention any loans, so I'm assuming she purchased both homes with cash. However, I did some backtracking and figured with appreciation values, the original price of each of the homes was around $45k. Using interest rates from that time, I figured if she had gotten a mortgage, it would have a balance of ~$40k now. The homes are listed for $69k each, and comps have them at about $77k. The RE agent said both are currently being rented for $700/mo. She didn't have rental history for the homes, but said she would get the info to me on Monday.

I'm really not a fan of landlording - at least, not this early in my REI career. The RE agent gave me a powerful spreadsheet program that analyzes rentals, cashflow, tax considerations, sales forecasts, etc. It's really mind-boggling. I'm used to a 15-line NOI table I got from one of my books, but it pales in comparison to what this spreadsheet can do. Running the NOI, I figured after all operating costs it would require me to get a mortgage of no more than $272/month for EACH property. Running some amortization calculations, I figure the absolute most I could offer would be $50k for each - and that's really stretching it. I'd be more comfortable with $40-45k. And this is if both places require -0- repairs. The good thing is it has renters, but even that information is vague (Are they late? Is their lease about to expire? How well do they take care of the place? Etc.). Questions I'll hopefully get answered Monday.

Another concern is that the RE agent said these properties have been on the market for 60+ days. I'm not sure what the DOM is for the area, but I figure more experienced landlords wold have scooped these properties up by now if they were marginal to good.

While I would like to get the properties, it's the experience dealing with all the facets of the deals that I am most happy doing. I had a good talk with the RE agent, and she understands my intentions as an investor and is happy to work with me. She has already given me vital information from the MLS and will continue to do so. She has also given me a powerful spreadsheet program to analyze rental properties that I can use for future prospects - all for FREE. She also knows people in the industry that I can leverage when the need arrives.

I already consider it a positive week overall, even though I haven't added any $$$ to my coffers yet. :-)