Is it optimal to have a lender in place before doing an agent with a showing?

I have never purchased a condo because I do not want to directly compete with large apartment complexes, but if you’ve already got it and you think it will appreciate remember the old re addage...the optimal holding period for re is forever.

.- no title seasoning on cash out refinances unlike FHA which has 12 months of title seasoning after purchase before you can use market value value or conventional which requires 6 months after acquisition (this applies to CO refinances where you used financing initially to purchase not DFE or delayed financing exception which is an all cash purchase and there is no lien/deed recorded on the property at the time of close), This becomes very handy for  creative RE entrepreneur once you learn how to force equity through adding value to properties you can use VA's no title seasoning advantage to increase the speed at which you move from deal to deal quicker than Conv/FHA- no self sufficiency rule when owner occupying 3-4 unit properties which FHA has (a rule that makes buying 3-4 unit FHA properties in high cost areas nearly impossible) so this a huge plus- use of rental income or other peoples income (OPI) to help you qualify on your 2-4 unit VA purchase (FHA and Conv does allow this too)There's a lot more you can do to optimize your mortgage planning from an investors perspective.With the introduction of the 2018 Tax Cuts, you can structure your taxes strategically to not only greatly reduce the tax impact but also remain bankable to most money sources.

I believe these numbers are JUST conservative enough that they won't "talk you out of a good deal" but will protect you from over optimism as well. 

If I might throw on my optimism hat though, once they fully move all of the SEAL teams down to the new Naval Coastal Campus from Coronado, the government's attention to the issue *ought* to be higher than ever considering that these guys are out in the water a lot and when you have a state-of-the-art training facility for our elite forces being influenced by polluted water, this becomes a national security issue.  

You can pretty much optimize min night stays thru some of the dynamic prices.

Anyone else have a similar experience in have strategies to use HELOCs to optimize their investment property purchases?

You're far better off finding a market that fits your goals than to sub optimize your investment from the start.

If the seller sells after 365 days, it is long term capital gains, unless the seller lived in the property 2 of the last 5 years, then there is no capital gains.A good example of optimal tax write offs and profitability is in the following spreadsheet.

Some good lists to target are Absentee Owners with Equity, Seniors with Long-time Ownership and Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores.You can work with a list broker to optimize your list for your area.