.- cash out refi loans have higher rate than if cash out was not occurring.  

Higher down payments, adjustable rates, but it would allow you to leverage instead of paying all cash.

Are you thinking this new cycle of higher rates is at its peak and we are going to head back to the 3%-4% range?

If you, your lender, or agent can pull up higher comps, there may be a way for you to negotiate a seller's concession and use it to buy down the interest rate.

As @Chris Seveney mentioned there is not really enough equity in house 3 to get a meaningful LOC. even if you were able to leverage enough to pay off House 2 the new rate you would be paying would be higher than the existing mortgage, so you would still be behind overall.Your ROI on those payoffs vs keeping money in index funds is not very good either.Lastly, remember that cash flow from rentals can seem good until it’s not.

There are tons of beginner friendly hard money investors on here that will lend to a first time flipper, although it may be a higher rate, their expertise will be invaluable. 

.: Quote from @John Underwood: I have never had any problems with noise or smoking inside.I have higher end properties and higher end guests.So John - you are saying just don’t get them if it’s a higher end property?

Short term, assuming the real estate lobby doesn't sue this to keep delaying/appealing, once it goes into effect there will be no more broker fees paid by tenant *unless they hire the broker*Some long term effects I can predict already: - Landlords now having to absorb broker fees will bake this into the rent (e.g. how "no fee" units typically are priced a little higher than other units) - Real estate board will require another document (or checkbox) for tenants to sign stating that they're hiring the listing broker and responsible for compensating them for their fee *if* they apply and are approved- Regular New Yorkers will have an even harder time to find an apartment because you cannot legislate/regulate away a housing crises... 

Not to mention you typically will have higher quality cabinets with plywood box construction and new hardware at the end.

I have no units in South Park but 1) 3 of my 4 STR units had significantly higher vacancy than 20%.