More on DSCR loans: DSCR loans won't use your income to underwrite the loan.

Buying at the mortgage balance (~$150K) positions is under the fair market value and can trigger gift tax rules.

You Might Not Live for FreeMany first-time house hackers expect that their rental income will fully cover their mortgage, but that’s not always the case.

Enough immediate cashflow to balance out the mortgage, taxes and insurance.

Use that loan to pay the back taxes and get things under control.

One thing you will want to explore is the tax rate in the specific counties you are looking in.

Be mindful that there are rules that the lenders want you to check off.Furthermore, there are other rules on the tax side where you want to normally be under to get the most tax benefits.The magic number in both instances is '14 days'Lenders want you to stay atleast 14 days to meet the secondary home requirement.The tax accountant normally wants you to stay less than 14 days or 10% of the days it was used as a rental to treat it as a rental and not as a personal residence.Best of luck!

If you need financial help, ask under the "Finance, Tax, and Legal" forum.

As Dan said though, there are many tax benefits.

I’ve been working with real estate financials for a while, and I keep seeing one mistake that costs investors thousands: poor bookkeeping leading to missed tax deductions.🚨 Common issues I see:❌ Not properly tracking repairs vs. capital improvements❌ Missing out on cost segregation & depreciation write-offs❌ Scrambling at tax time instead of planning proactivelyI’d love to hear from the group—what’s been your biggest tax headache as an investor?