Many other settlement fees and closing costs for buying the property become additions to your basis in the property and part of your depreciation deduction, including: Abstract fees."

@Tyler Deuel,If you can get a loan for 75% of $300 ($210k on conventional terms) and pay off $80k and give the owner $130k in cash at settlement, would the owner be willing to hold the second note on the property for $80,000?

If your intentions are to flip real estate - the only money you need is for advertising your controlled property (to find the deal and to liquidate it)- that should be no more than $2,000, maybe $100 consideration on your contract.......Unless you are going to go to settlement first and than flip the real estate paying unreasonable transaction costs.Do you have the needed skills to accomplish what you want to do -- like it or not - flipping houses has a bunch of moving parts -Power prospecting - where are you going to get your leadsNegotiating - do you know how to control propertiesHybrid offers and joint ventures with sellersUnderstanding contracts is important - will you use a long form or a skinny contractAssignment clauses - will your agreement have all the property and self-serving clauses in it.Built-in extensionsFind the assignee and closing the deal - do you know what the proper procedures are - will you collect your assignment fee in advance of closingAre you ready with the what if (s)the assignee backs out and wants his money backthe seller won't come to settlementthe seller wants out or wants more money - he is angry because you made too much moneythe title company will not cooperate because you don't have legal titleauction - will you flip your transaction using the auction methodan agent wants a feethe seller accuses you of operating as an agent without a license you run out of time on your contract, you are in default - the assignee wants to sue you for misrepresentation there is a fire before settlementyour forms; contracts - assignment - disclosures - required by law are not in order - can you defend your positionif you go into a deal and spend $5,000 and it won't close due to judgments the seller forgot to tell you about - what nowSorry for all the negative What if's........ but we are dealing with people - they are complicated sometimes - unreasonable - and litigious most of the time.So be aware - flipping houses, commercial properties, businesses with real estate and non-conforming real estate is not as easy as some would have you believe ---Money - is not the answer -------- systems - techniques - formulas - negotiations and education is!

I was always hopeful to find a simple framework or calculator to do this exact thing.

If you hover over "learn" in the navigation, we've built a framework that we think is pretty good for helping you navigate the process of a real estate transaction, from picking a strategy and market, to acquiring a deal, to rehabbing/managing it, tracking your portfolio, identifying exit strategies and repeating to scale your business. 

She then calls me back and says she has one year rent up front from a settlement she received.

What do you think of this idea: have the PR contact the lender and negotiate a full and final settlement of the loan for $100k.

Then at the end of the period, if they went for the forbearance plan, they have to pay all their dues to the bank which is not going to be forgiving at all, so even if you took on the forbearance plan, you'd better put that money in a savings account just in case the bank will not agree to any settlement other than full and immediate payment. 

Sometimes medical bills and lawsuit settlements are so high compared to assets it really is the only way to get rid of them.

Usually the line item on your settlement statement is much more than the real cost of a credit report.