It is a distant 3rd to appreciation and tax benefits in creating wealth imo.

Looking forward to the journey and closing on #2 in the (hopefully) not too distant future.

Refi is preferable if the money being accessed is for longterm purposes (ie buy/hold) and you plan to purchase another investment soon whereas a Heloc is preferable for short-term use (flip, rehab, etc.) and/or you want the ability to pull the trigger in the perhaps distant future if/when a deal presents itself.

The problem with this is that the property is paid in full with a $20k tax lien, so the cost of the property if it goes to public auction will likely be closer to $300k and make this less of a deal.Contact the distant relatives to stop the foreclosure process.

Personally, the only reason I would be investing in an area besides my own is that my money would translate better in that distant area, so if the 1% rule is really hard to come by in Richmond and they go fast to locals buying all cash...and you have no real reason why you are choosing Richmond (i.e. family there, friends there, contacts there, love the city, have history with the city), then why not go where there are deals that can still meet your criteria...and that goes for all over the country not just Hampton Roads.

I checked out their site and can definitely see myself utilizing their services in the not too distant future.

It’s a great market and in the distant future it will be a market I would like to look for opportunities in for population growth, job growth, infrastructure, positioning for climate change (very long term) etc..

I look forward to connecting with more local and distant seasoned investors...and other newbies like me :-) - Joel Lomnick

There will absolutely be many more for you in the near and distant future.