New member, questions, lenders, foreclosures

[Sam Ragan]

Hi everyone,

I came across BP while searching for properties, and this looks like a great place for investors. I bought my first two rentals almost five years ago and am grateful to have wonderful tenants, thanks to the property mgmt. co. They were both good deals. I have 100% equity in both now, and I would like to know what options I have to use them as collateral for buying a third property. Should I find a bank loan or HELOC? Are there private lenders on this site willing to invest until I can refinance the new property?

My second purchase was a short-sale, and the seller was extremely thankful that I waited as long as I did for the the deal to finally go through. Just out of curiosity, is there any moral or ethical shame in buying foreclosures, i.e., are you taking advantage of someone else's misfortune by doing this? Do you get bad karma from buying foreclosures? My third purchase was a bank-owned property and I thought it was a good deal, but ended up losing money after being unable to find a good property manager or good tenants and finally cut my losses and sold it dirt cheap. I was happy just to get rid of it.

I'm looking to buy another property in the next three months, so any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!