Our median price home is much lower than Austin.

They are able to rent property that is lower income housing, because otherwise the property would be vacant, or better housing where the landlord hasn’t completed a thorough due diligence either because the landlord left the due diligence to the leasing broker, or doesn’t know how to go beyond a $15 “tenant report”. or the property is sitting vacant and the landlord decides to “take a chance”.  

I really wanted to try finding a duplex that i could immediately rent out the lower half rather then buy a SFH and have a higher mortgage overallHow did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

If I can park the 388k ($415-27k) for one year at CD rate of 4.5% and then est 300k (after paying cap gain/depr recap) at 3.0% (assume CD rates lower) that interest income of about 24 months net of ordinary income tax is about the same as my current mortgage.Trying to play devil's advocate and think why selling this year does not make sense. 

Several of the contractors offer helical piers but don’t seem to think they’d be a more cost effective option - we can directly ask about this again.  

To transition to multi-family properties, research landlord-friendly states like Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Indiana with favorable eviction laws, lower taxes, and higher rental demand.

This does not align with buying most buildings in cash.Once you progress in your investing efforts you may come across more UHNW individuals, family offices and institutions who would take the lower return for limiting risk (all cash deal).

I agree with most—if you're local and familiar with the property's history, self-managing could be a great option!

@Max Bellino For smaller properties like your 2–4 unit multifamily buildings, an online cost segregation study is a quicker and more cost-effective option, providing sufficient accuracy for straightforward properties.

I’ve heard of a few different options but would love to hear your experiences, especially if you've used gap funding on flips, new construction, or commercial projects.