they told us the borrower is not allowed to choose a title company we have to use theirs. 

Your maximum allowable offer. 

https://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news/study-reveals-....Not sure BP will allow that link to post, if not just google " 10000 saved using a broker vs direct lender" and you can find the article.On the flip side, there are some banks and credit unions that could offer products that they do not allow to be brokered.

One of my lots had only a garage on it, which the city wouldn't allow, needed to have an inhabitable structure in addition to it. 

Not much good stuff on the market right now that can cash flow without work and on the MLS the prices don't allow for some extra reno. 

One, you might want to consider Seller Financing (in Michigan, we call it a Land Contract) which can allow you to buy property while using the Seller as Banker; not all Sellers are open to this, but it can be beneficial to both the Buyer and Seller.

Cash out or cash in hand also allows you to avoid having a heloc sit in 2nd lien position and you cannot borrow more money until you pay off the heloc.

I would add to this account every month, allowing me to pull from it whenever there was a large repair or capex event. 

I looked into this at more than one occasion, because Milwaukee has such an old housing stock, everything is 60-120 years old.Most of the new apartments we see are 4 and 5 star developments with very high rents, this allows to offset the high cost of construction a little better.

We're not allowed to do this. ;)Moderators: notice that this was just a joke between two colleagues, both tax professionals.