It’s a great way to grow faster.HELOC or Equity Tapping: If you have equity in another property, using a HELOC or cash-out refinance could help cover the down payment without affecting your DTI as much.Seller Financing or Creative Deals: Look for sellers willing to finance directly, which bypasses traditional mortgage qualification hurdles.Scaling quickly often involves combining strategies—play around with what works best for your goals.

At this stage, the main thing we need is for me to get back into the workforce and get some money coming in, in order to achieve that dream.With that in mind, my immediate goal is to gain employment in the field of property management, as opposed to wasting my time working in another field that is not associated with real estate.

Last month, I was projecting to see the inventory numbers rise with seasonality and get a slight bump from Hurricane Helene, but that has proven to not be the case.

Then you'll have to figure out how you fund the project (land purchase + build costs).

Hey @Brandon Toron,Given your plan to turn the property into a short-term rental (STR), you have a few creative ways to push closer to that 90% cash-out goal, even if traditional lenders shy away from it:1. 

My goal would be to move in, add value, and exit in 2-3 years.

I have great lenders and property managers I can refer you to.In Cleveland, it all depends on what your goal is.

More than likely the PM wasn't aware of the costs as most PM's don't understand project management.

This year for 2025 my wife and I have made it a goal to improve our financial literacy to purchase another investment property.

I would recommend you and your husband get on the same page about future investing goals.