At the end of the day, ROI  is important, but most deals with enough margin, from my experience are off market. 

With the information you have gave me, I'd say the 5% down with PMI is the best option, as you get to avoid the higher interest on the 401k loan and the marginally higher interest on the cash-out refi, and you get preserve more of your liquid assets.

The first deals I did were marginal based on what I’m doing now but you gotta get your feet wet sometime.

As markets rise and heats up, flipping margins tightens and more risk holding the bag when the market heads down.In general, finding the deal is paramount to market conditions. 

@Aaron K.I screen my tenant prospects extremely thoroughly including credit evection job application and background check etc. and that allows me to entertain tenant prospects with marginal credit or past credit issues.

With a design business and a background in construction I feel it could be a great path.Can you share a little about your costs to build and final margins?

You don't need to hit the 1% rule in some markets, I don't in Ottawa, Canada and returning nicely on my Duplex.Depending on local laws, your basement better be legal to rent it out without living in the home.When including closing costs and realtor fees, I often find it much better to keep any real estate I already own if it cash flows by any margin.

Flippers that work on too small of a margin and/or don't know their numbers are the ones that get themselves in trouble.

Other investors didn't touch the property since it really only makes sense if you plan on living in it like I am, otherwise it's too slim of a profit margin to flip.

Might be worth it, depending on your marginal tax bracket. 4. carry the 1k business loss to my 1k salary- Ans: No loss and salary, as we discussed above.