We plan to 100% travel to the area that we are going to be purchasing before making a purchase to meet people, network, and hopefully build a solid team. 

My feeling of using Pref Equity is that you'd better know what you're doing and confident that you can deliver.

By presenting a competitive offer and demonstrating confidence in our ability to complete the project, we were able to close the deal successfully.

Unless you are incredibly confident in your reno assumptions, I'd recommend getting a contractor out there ASAP to give you an accurate reno estimate if you want to go that path.

@Brian Garlington, I actually do travel to Columbus myself a few times a year at least.

@Luke Bricca Yesss...my heart is really in renovating and giving houses a new life (did that with my own house pretty much) but alas I live in the Bay Area so there is nothing I can afford here....or anywhere nearby really... plus a small kid (so travel is hard), so hard to travel frequently and supervise a contractor, etc. 

I'd be happy to connect and hear how you got started, I enjoy these kinds of stories, it builds confidence that I can get there with time!

Markets that are close to travel to are good places to start.

Even if rates went way up, I am confident you would still be ahead dodging all those fees and just paying down the principal after the PP falls off.Bottom line is this refinancing is too slim to be worth it right now.

If we had a GC with a solid track record, I'm confident I could find the capital.