New Investor - Finance 2 properties at the same time?

[Adam P]

I am a new investor, and I have learnt so much from these forums. I currently own no property, but am hoping to purchase 2 - 4 investment properties over the next few months. I would like to buy and hold cash flow properties, but would renovate and flip if it makes sense.

I have an offer out on 2 REOs. One qualifies for homepath financing, one does not, so I would need a conventional investment loan.

If both accepted, would I have any difficulty getting 2 conventional loans at the same time? I am pre qualified based on income from my day job for $400k in a conventional or FHA loan (by a national bank).

I have good credit (around 750), good income, and no other debt.

One property is $120k and the other is $60k. I am hoping to put 10% down and get a homepath investor loan on the 120k, and put 25% down for a conventional loan on the $60k property (so getting a $108k loan, and a $45k loan).

I could afford to buy the $60k property with cash, but could I then refinance this clear at a later time? Could I use the equity at least towards deposit on another property? My concern with paying cash is that it would then eat into my deposit for more properties down the road.

I know given REO's, I am unlikely to get both offers accepted, but I would like to continue bidding on REOs, and not have prioritize which one to buy, if multiples are good deals.

I was initially going to purchase more expensive property, but I have found that cheaper properties appear to have more upside, and far better cashflow. Therefore I would much rather buy 3 x $80k properties at the same time, than buy 1 x $240k property.

The reason I would like to buy properties simultaneously, is that I was considering taking a 3-6 month unpaid vacation next year, and would like to build my property portfolio prior to having an income gap, leaving me with more difficulty financing.

Does anyone have experience financing a few cheaper properties at the same time when starting out?