You should always talk to a mortgage broker or bank first to find how much you qualify for before starting the investor journey.

Instead, the income from the property is used to qualify you.

Generally yes a HELOC will go off your personal finances so qualifying is generally based on your income, liabilities, and credit. 

. - When you go to qualify for your next proeprty, your lender can actually add losses from line 18 back into your income... allowing you to qualify for the next property.

@David YoungTo turn your paid-off home into a successful investment property, start by formalizing a lease agreement, assessing necessary renovations to maximize rental appeal, and calculating your cash flow after expenses.

If you are looking at FHA because of credit score, then I would work on credit scores to qualify for conventional financing or see if you can get a very strong coborrower with high scores.  

You need two years of steady income before you can qualify for a loan.

THEN, I plan to purchase the second home using a FHA or conventional loan (3%-5% down), for which I will likely pay the monthly cost out-of-pocket, maybe with some rental income support if it is a duplex.My concern is, I do not want to spend my savings or weigh down my debt-to-income ratio so much so that I cannot qualify for and pay the down payment and closing for the lending on the second home.Questions: - With the first home being multi-family, 75% of the rental income (or potential rental income initially) will relatively either maintain or boost my debt-to-income ratio from lenders' perspectives, right? 

New construction properties can qualify for significant insurance discounts, but otherwise, I generally expect insurance in this area to run a little over 1% of the property’s value if it’s in decent condition.Feel free to DM me if you’d like a good insurance contact to shop around for a better rate.

He takes the same risk as any landlord out there, since a lot of renters would not qualify for a mortgage and default anyway.