House hacking a duplex is a solid way to get started in real estate while keeping your living costs low.

Do you believe it will now be more cost effective to hold a license or do you believe the expenses will go up with what I assume will be a flight from the business by low producing real estate agents? 

for me, the ones that cashflow the most are the ones that I bought with 3% long term debt, they were new (low maintenance) and they are in high appreciating areas(just a bonus but does not impact cashflow).

“Be a shame if sometin happened to dat liddle bank of youz”) forced them to do: Bought T-Bills as “Safe Assets”.

You have to put 5% down vs 3.5% down, rates are usually higher, but if you have strong credit, your PMI cost can be cheaper than that of FHA loans. 

Or you can offer a low enough price to make sense.

Fixed Mortgage does come with closing costs and points upfront which the HELOC does not, except a $95 annual fee. 

Some even offer preferred interest rates as low as 5.75% at no cost to you. 

The negative equity often exceeds $50k but even if I use $25k (it would be rare to have this low of an initial negative equity position), is nearly 2.5 years to recover.  

Sometimes the closing costs from the auction are HIGHER than expected.