That said, I completely understand your concern about deals looking "too good to be true" when you’re putting in 50% down.To avoid this, it’s best to analyze properties as if you were using more traditional financing (20-25% down).

Your primary insurance policy with $300,000 in liability coverage should be sufficient in 99.999% of all lawsuits.5The best protection for you and your investments?

Traditionally I have sold the builder land and loaned him the money to buy the land and build the house with us splitting up the profits when it sold. 

The main property will be my primary residence.My biggest question is, what kind of foundation would you use, (that is to code and will pass inspection/permits in Charlottesville) that is either relatively easy DIY or cheap to outsource.

The problem we are having is much of our current deal flow is below traditional lending terms (<$75K).

@Samantha Springs can you rent a room out in the unit you occupy as your primary?

If you’re working with a community bank or a traditional lender, these issues may not be as relevant.

When did you get into my primary residence???

The second scenario would be if you didn't have enough capital to invest in real estate the traditional way and wanted to start to build a portfolio.

Our plan was to do the traditional house-hack, but things haven’t gone as planned.During some self-testing followed by professional testing, we discovered lead in several high-traffic areas of the home.