As a newbie eagerly looking for his first buy and hold multifamily property, I'm trying to evaluate the direction the market is heading and wanted to get your opinion.

I am looking for a viable .xls based formula-driven maximum purchase price worksheet to evaluate prospective properties.

For every property being considered (before you buy), you need to evaluate the condition of the major systems and see what condition they are in and what their remaining useful life is.  

I can't imagine not having progress payments over a large job.  

hey, i was wondering if one is interested in a rental income from a single-family house, which parameters should he look at to evaluate the neighborhood ?

If you're flipping, you'll most likely need to know about flipping :) I think this book will give you a good idea on what to look for and what others are looking for when evaluating deals.

Etc.I ask because I am currently evaluating a short sale that is waaaay over priced.

Liens in order of recording or subordination and so on and if it makes it, which does not happen often, to the debtor.The second will progressively fall further upside down as additional payments, fees, etc. continue to build and take away from it's profitable equity position.

The property is now under contract so the discussion is moot, but I used some conservative numbers on the back of my envelope and came up with:Purchase Price : $95K (asking price in MLS)Rehab Costs: $20K (guess, probably would be lower in actuality)Closing Costs: $3KDown Pmt: $10KTotal Cash Investment: $13K(ignored hard money loan carrying costs, evaluated ARV refi)15 yr term at 9% (are these reasonable numbers?)

Look forward to hearing about your progress!!