The other thing is that if the house is really appreciating rapidly, if you lived there 2 years and sell within 5 you get to keep 250k of the capital gains, which probably makes better sense than keeping long term as a rental. 

What is not known is how much time and effort you spend to run this business as if you take the $85k and minus salary(ies) to run it, then what would it net gain you?

Also, Fixated moved my closing date a few times, but luckily I didn’t have another deal at risk.Does this sound typical?

We do some cosmetic improvements to bring homes to our standard, typically carpet and paint, upgrade lighting etc.

Now, probably after a long and drawn out court battle, a plaintiff can probably get the lien removed as a “sham”, but a cursory examination by the typical plaintiffs attorney would probably not produce that conclusion.  

@Elizabeth Ross - make sure you are familiar with South Bend - houses for under 100k in South Bend can typically be in pretty rough neighborhoods, so be sure to do your due diligence. 

We also get to enjoy our place as often as we like (the slightly lower occupancy rate due to our use is also a factor in being cash flow negative) and the negative cash flow is offset easily by the equity we'd gain, even assuming only a 2% appreciation on the cabin. 

We have already finished speculative designs for a typical quarter hectare (2500m2) 12-17 unit boutique holiday and residential apartment complex on the south side of Tulum on the Kukulkan Road connecting the town to the beaches.

Hi Scott, consider USFR for zero risk cash, earns 5.4% holding 8 week Floating rate note US treasuriesor for mild risk cash, consider BKN - BlackRock's Muni fund, earns 5.6% tax free, which for you would be >9% tax-equivalent yield, and if rates fall, the BKN etf will rise considerably, which though will be capital gains taxable :(, It holds intermediate term Municipals that are all GO, general obligation, so they can always tax us dumb schmuck citizens to pay off the notes instead of defaulting, so low risk but not zero risk for cash. ie (Orange county '90s)Inflation has already resolved, the 3 month trailing core PCE is at 1.5%, well below FEDs 2% target, so they will likely start cutting soon as the 12 month trail falls in line, that's why Powell changed his verbiage so much last Wednesday, and FOMC minutes speak of 150 bp cuts before the end of December as their expectation per their Dot Plots, the only question remaining is consumer spending,(>60% US economy), if falling like McDonalds/Starbucks/Uber saying then unemployment will accelerate and then possible recession, then 10yr yield falls even more, and bonds values would rise like Mike just said above.

I’m looking to gain knowledge on real estate investing here on Bigger Pockets and excited about the possibility of learning from and connecting with both new and experienced investors!