If you get the house appraised there is a statement included that the appraisal is only good for the purpose it was ordered for and can not be used for other purposes.

Told me he had an idea and grabbed a tire iron.

Well I was in the thick of it back in the day.. both as a HIGH volume real estate agent ( owned and office and had a team) and HML in the Deep south. so I think I can speak to this a little.For the CA borrowers it was all credit score driven... and just like today were you see posts I live in LA but need to invest other places.. lenders made those loans far to easy for folks who eventually lost the assets.. in the DEEP SOUTH  and I mean Mississippi can't get any more deep south than that I was the largest hard money lender in the state for many years doing 300 plus loan in Jackson a year. for fix and flippers who sold not only to investors for rental purposes ( see above almost all out of  state) to homeowners.. the issue that caused much of this is CRA never mentioned and most don't know what it is .. its the Community Reinvestment ACT that Clinton put in.. it basically forced banks if they wanted to work in certain areas they MUST provide loans for the citizens who live there...

@Karl Johnson    I am not sure what the purpose would be. 

You might defeat the purpose as your DTI would be higher after borrowing your reserves.  

Perhaps getting good at photography and offering to take pictures of for sale property for advertising purposes (for a price).

My assumption is your lease and/or state law allows you access for inspection purpose with appropriate notification.

I have always been under the impression that my cost basis for capital gains purposes would be $260k - the depreciation I've taken (around $20k) = $240k.  

The important thing is to learn how to recognize a good deal and always be on the lookout for one as you build up your assets and your network - this way, you can be ready to strike when the iron is hot.

Are you planning on running this company continuously, or just forming it for the purposes of acquiring a specific asset?