And while I was able to increase rents substantially, the making the garage a garage again, also involved a full gut remodel of the rest of the house, so the design and newness certainly played a big roll on the rent increase.Second case study, my wife and I recently bought a flip.  1960's built, four bed 2.5 bath house.  

Though his gross income has improved substantially on paper from the horror 2020 days I’d still say he’s at 25% DTI front end.

But the following year, a letter comes in the mail that says, "Here's your new tax bill... at a substantially higher rate."  

This doesn't make sense because there are so may costs to refinancing a property that, when you do the math, depending on how much your property is actually worth, the monthly improvement in cashflow does not substantiate the costs to refinance. 

For those just starting, investing in rental properties may offer a more substantial financial growth pathway through cash flow, tax benefits, and mortgage pay-down facilitated by tenants.In contrast, areas with more favorable rent-to-value ratios (like some parts of the Midwest) might make buying a primary residence a sensible start. 

If you decide to invest out of state do a LOT of research to substantiate your decision compared to what you can find either locally or within a few hours drive of where you are.

I guess I'm asking does it really matter which one we start out with first or am I overthinking this process after intaking vast amounts of information.

Previous condition: water damage, substantial rehab.Rehab cost:90k- Oakland Single family, comp: 600k ; listing fo 325k.

Inventory is now very substantially above the extreme lows seen in recent years, when inventory fell below 1 month for a sustained period.Here are the full stats for Austin and the greater metro:A 30-year fixed rate mortgage is sitting around 7.1% interest, which is down a bit from last month, but still well above where we began 2024.

All great responses to your question, and completely agree with everyone above.I have 2 properties in HOAs and the barrier to entry was substantially lower in my market than a single family home not in an HOA.