Much more difficult to convince sellers to owner finance5.

LLC's are still the way to go but yes you can't tap into owner occupied mortgage tools such as HELOC's or high leverage.

Furnishings that are easy to clean, along with amenities like high-speed internet and pet-friendly options, go a long way.

- FYI: it's only illegal to try to rent it out, the property owner can usually legally live in a nonconforming basement unit.If you do all this you may still negatively cashflow each month, so make sure your income can cover and/or your cash reserves.If you do this successfully, you will learn more in 1-2 years than you would reading here on BP for 5+ years:)Good luck:)

We refunded his 200 dollar pet deposit (Illinois has put ESAs on par with working animals, so we had to refund it), although he says we did not (we do have proof of this).   

And there are even more carriers who would insure co-living rental w/o owner-occupied - for example Obie.

I am exploring this area and have heard some noise regarding the further limitations on beach access points along the coast, creating some havoc for str owners.

Hi Kevin,I have a couple of rentals in Fredericksburg and I allow pets (charging a pet deposit and monthly pet rent to cover damages and wear and tear).

Meet with the one owner and show him how we are doing on thinning and trimming his trees.  

A colleague of mine has bought two properties owner-occupied back to back in Arlington (with a 5% rate and a 7% rate) doing basement conversions and renting rooms, lowering his effective monthly payment on each property to sub 2K each time.