I have equity in my primary residence and some non retirement savings (but hesitant to dip into that… ) Interested in hearing your responses!!

Financing the deal with cash and a loan from your brother helped you avoid traditional loan costs, which likely benefited your margins.One key lesson you’ve pointed out—always buying low and, if possible, getting an inspection is something that can save a lot of time and money.

is this loan secured by your primary residence as a HELOC  or are you borrowing against your stock/bond portfolio ?

Check your municiple statutes, but most allow you to Airbnb a room in your primary.

It can be a lucrative business opposed to the traditional LTR, but you definitely need to have your heart in the right place.

Also, some municipalities require that the property be your primary residence and that you live on site to manage.

We might move back to the East Coast in 4-5 years, so I'm looking for investments that can work well as a primary residence now and a rental property later.Income: Both my girlfriend and I have solid tech salaries (150k+ each).Current Portfolio: I don’t currently own any rental properties.Goal & Long Term Plan: I don’t love my current job so like many of you, I would like to create enough passive income through rental properties to have financial freedom and be able to work business ideas or side projects.

Even if your rate is in the 3's or 4's you can still get a rate in the 5's right now for a primary home and take out up to 85% LTV. 

I've bought over 700 SFR/Small-Multi properties for less than 70% ARV over the last 35 years, across up, down, and sideways market cycles--including 11 of them in the last 3 years even though that isn't my primary strategy anymore. 

Your primary insurance policy with $300,000 in liability coverage should be sufficient in 99.999% of all lawsuits.5.