The average days on market (DOM) in the NY Metro area has decreased over the last year.

Owner occupied united increased by 8.4%"Still, although the overall share of households that rented decreased, the number of rented units increased by over a million units (43.3 million to 44.6 million)."

But there's something else that many people don't realize: these loans  "constant recast" during the interest-only period.For example, if I make an extra $400 payment one month, my interest-only payment will decrease the following month.

Limited Housing InventoryThe number of homes for sale in Buffalo is significantly below pre-pandemic levels, with a reported 46.1% decrease compared to 2018–2019 averages.

If you're looking to do value-added deals out of state, you're decreasing the chances of having a successful experience.

@Sujith Bhaskaran - I have not invested yet with HomeRoom so I can't specifically speak to their renovation process but with my general experience in real estate, adding a bedroom almost always increases your property value, not decreases it.

On paper the cheap houses look great, but the reality is they are harder to manage, have higher turn over and cost a lot more time and money.Buying before you retire is a good idea because once you retire, your ability to borrow money is going to decrease as you don't have a regular income from a job.As you want to fix houses up, why not buy a house that needs a bit of work, live in it while doing the renos and then move when you sell it. 

You can get a HELOC if there is equity in the property most likely, which there should be since you own it in cash, but you will just be decreasing your pay out and then may end up short in repair money, depending on how much it is worth.

Or you can meet in the middle and increase income by $2,500 and decrease spending by $2,500.Investing in real estate will not increase your income in the short term.

Without a mortgage, this decreases the risk of a rental vacancy and improves cashflow.