Either way its good to buy end of year as most builders and sellers are offering seller credits or builder credits to use towards closing costs or to buy a rate down to help get a lower payment.Even if you wanted to buy a strater home like a 2-4 unit as a primary again you only need to put 5% down. 

You can likely do this with your savings rate (that will likely increase) and age. 

Also, under Insights you can see your conversion rate.   

Some costs MAY qualify as startup costs if the rental rises to a qualifying trade or business level under 195 as well.

Interest on a HELOC is adjustable, if interest rates rise you are screwed.For you folks that weren't in real estate in 2003-2006 and when the market started collapsing in 2007.

Real Estate Market Predictions for 2025Single-Family Homes: Prices will likely remain flat due to homeowners holding onto low-interest-rate loans, causing fewer properties to hit the market.

"Buy the property, but date the rate!".

That helps some...but your variable expenses also go up too - property insurance & taxes - so a lot of your rent increases go to offset rising variable expenses.I started at the age of 47 in 2018 and we bought properties fast and furious - 12 the first year, 10 the next, and 9 in 2021 and currently have 38 properties. 

From what I can tell, it seems like most of the very small towns in this area; tons of trailers, single family homes, no visible high rises or larger multifamily that I saw. 

Overall, the rise of commercial paper has been a positive for the investing community IMO.