Ultimately, it’s essential to consult with your lender to understand what’s best for your long-term goals and costs involved.

My budget for the first property is $50k ~ $100k total cost (including rehab).

CA maybe as high with their EIR requirements that cost 250k to 500k just for the EIR reports.

.✅ This avoids wasting time screening unqualified tenants.3) Before Lease Signing (Final Step)✅ Run the background check before approving the tenant, so you can verify:Credit history & income stability Eviction & rental historyCriminal background (if applicable in your state)Final ThoughtThe best time is after the showing but before lease approval—this ensures you’re only screening serious applicants while minimizing wasted time and costs.

So, if a tenant broke a window and it cost $300 to replace, you can simply add that bill in apartments.com and that way its all tracked where everyone can see it and track it. 

You could also get a line of credit for about $150k (you should be able to borrow 75% of the value.)The reason I suggest this is…1) you save $40-$60k in selling costs. 2) you have a lower blended interest rate (2/3rds at 3.25% and 1/3rd at 7 or 8% instead of the whole $500k at 7 or 8%) saving you another $1k/mo in interest. 3) you only pay interest on that $150k when you actually use it, not from day 1  Unless you hate this property, or want to buy something you can’t afford without selling, that would be my plan.

Hi Chris, As financing costs will be a big factor in determining profitability, you should be asking HMLs for proposals to fund. 

Can try to reposition to Class B, but neighborhood may impede these efforts.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, but 15-20% should be used to also cover tenant nonpayment, eviction costs & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores of 560-620 (approaching 22% probability of default), many blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 2 years.

Most DSCR programs will want you to have owned the property for more than 6 months to allow you to use appraised value instead of cost.

Prior to last year, effectively any SFR was eligible for a short term rental license.