Financing SFU's with Home Equity versus Investment Loans

[Joshua Nason]

Just closed on my first two rentals - one is tenant occupied and the other is a near gut-job. I was shocked to see closing costs in the $9-10k range for the two of them. I could've used a home equity loan to buy one of the properties outright and avoid those high closing costs, but was nervous about keeping my cash too thin given the gut job property.

Does anyone have an opinion on doing this one way or the other? What portion of closing costs can you write off for taxes? This is for near future reference