Yes quite a few of our 5,000 options have rate and term or purchase!

Spreading funds across 2-3 properties could provide diversification and steady cash flow.

It's no different than their 2-year, low interest rate teaser houses.

The best approach is to set clear, written criteria, and then price the property at a rate that gets you enough applicants that you can find a few who meet your criteria reasonably quickly.

It’s not necessarily more difficult than market-rate rentals, just different.If you’re seriously considering this route, feel free to reach out.

Plus today's rates for conventional loans are in the single digits, which are lower than hard money.

A HELOC comes with a variable interest rate and all signs are pointing to no further Fed rate cuts in 2025 - and there may even be rate increases.- So, you may want to consider locking in an interest rate via a 2nd mortgage.Do you have reserves for unexpected expenses?

Here's the problem: They are not a sustainable asset for most to own; they are difficult and costly assets to exit through a sale; if you achieve favorable refinances, you may be able to use those funds to buy other (hopefully better assets) but are now faced with operating highly leveraged bad assets. 

For the $525K property, with the low mortgage rate(you will probably never get a such low rate), it might make sense to hold onto it for now, especially if you can still sell it as a primary residence within the next three years and avoid capital gains taxes.

Based on 27.5 yr straight line depreciation, that's about $1,700 of missed annual depreciation; $25,000 over 15 years - and at an ordinary tax rate of say 30% tax could amount to $7,500 off my current tax bill.