In short, I can afford the additional $1100/mo cost of a second house, even until I rent it out.I have around $35K in HYSA and emergency funds that I could use for a down payment, but that's less than 20% which would be required for a conventional loan, assuming full purchase price.

In my business for example we texted about 35k people last month and got 163 leads and about 3 contracts out of that.What does that work out to "cost per contract"?

However, our tenant turned out to be problematic—late payments, issues that led to an eviction, and additional repair costs before we could relist the property for sale.Now, after months of making mortgage payments out of pocket, we finally have an offer.

Can try to reposition to Class B, but neighborhood may impede these efforts.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, but 15-20% should be used to also cover tenant nonpayment, eviction costs & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores of 560-620 (approaching 22% probability of default), many blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 2 years.

While under contract, we perform due diligence and there will be some soft costs incurred. 

If you have a good FICO, a decent down payment and closing costs, go ahead an do the first one. 

Refinancing has more nuances than it seems, and so do closing costs.

Those situations go bad more often than not, costing you money and the friendship.

It’s definitely smart to evaluate the tax and cost implications of your funding options.

While living in a high-cost area can present challenges, it also opens doors to creative strategies, like investing out of state or leveraging partnerships.