@Laurence Fru    Traditionally converting triplex to a duplex will not be the best option but I will say that is not always the case.  

most lenders  will  utilize the  schd E rental income average  method  for  including rental  income for  qualifying ...if the  proeprty is  recenlty  purchase the  vacancy factor  approach is used 

Unlike traditional lending there are NO rules, regulations, laws, licenses or governing bodies to hold Private Money Lenders accountable to.

Traditional 30year fixed How did you add value to the deal?

I like this approach as its the slow and steady method to meet my goals. 

We tried to over-provide and had things like both a traditional coffee maker and a Keurig.

Traditional house hunting with an agent.

And be aware that there are many who do it in spite of their methods being technically illegal.

We have our primary residence that has a good amount of equity and would like to use that leverage to find ourselves our first flip or longterm rental using the BRRRR method.

The traditional investment property mortgage requests 20% down, which I could make work but I’m trying to consider other options instead:- I have considered an FHA loan but would need to move into whatever house I purchase and the current house is really a single family home. - I’ve also considered a home equity loan on my current house in order to have more cash to invest into a rental property but would only make my mortgage go up and may make it difficult to have cash flow if I want to build my portfolio.I’d love to hear what you creative folks think.