Trying to Break Even by Leveraging Equity

[Parker Bullard]

I'm looking to purchase my first investment property and need help figuring out a strategy that will work for me. I have about $300k in equity (based on a BPO performed in July 2023) but no cash. Whatever I do, I would need to do with a HELOC—effectively financing 100% of the property (down payment and closing financed with HELOC, rest of purchase financed with a mortgage).

But I'm having trouble finding any properties that I could rent, BRRRR, or flip where I would even break even—let alone clear a profit or cash flow.

My question is: When you hear that I'm essentially doing 100% financing, does that make it clear to anyone what strategy would be best? Does that make anyone think, "If you're not bringing any capital to the table then you probably want to avoid this strategy or you probably want to go with this kind of investment"?

[JooYung Choi]

You could consider going for a STR in a vacation market that will give you way more cash flow to pay off the HELOC quicker. You would have to self-manage though, as paying a property manager will eat up most of your profits. More work, more time but you can take advantage of a nice cost segregation / bonus depreciation