It used to be 6 months from sale would be good enough (30 years ago).I could go hard money, but I would want to watch the pre-pay penalty, points and interest.I will most likely hold onto the property for 2 years as residence if I don't use hard money.You won’t be able to obtain a conventional 80% mortgage by having the seller carry the 20% balance without committing mortgage fraud - lenders will require the down payment from the borrower and require you to sign statement declaring that the source of the down payment is not borrowed funds.  

This is my first deal, are these numbers good enough to pursue?

How do you guys decide when a property is good enough to invest in and keep as a long term rental?

The Pigeon Forge area is pretty saturated and anything in Florida has super high insurance rates.I'd identify properties and run the numbers along with insurance quotes.If you get a good enough purchase price you could likely make something work.Look at travel times to attractions, amenities, views (water, mountains etc) and see how your local competition to any subject properties your interested in is doing.

I have been trying to figure out which works best before buying my first property.This is what I observe:Excel spreadsheets - free but time consumingQuickBooks - $30/month but too complexStessa - free version is good enough but runs out of steam soonOther landlord software - from $20-40/month with mixed reviewsWhat's irking me is that the majority of these tools either make you feel like a huge property management company or as if you're not very tech-savvy.

and we have good enough cash flow to pretty much do what we desire.  

Or, perhaps we’re in a good enough economy?

It depends on what your strategy is prioritizing.Best CoC we typically see (over 20%) is from renovating bungalows in on a "good-enough" block a placing a Section 8 tenant. 

Even with this conservative approach, IRR is around 6-12% for some properties, but the cash flow is not good enough or total cash at close is too high.

Hi @Eric Fernando1) If there is hardwood and it is in good enough shape I would refinish or sand.