We do a lot of self employed loans and we can take your investment income in your pre approval.

I even paid for a salesman who I found on my Craiglist ad to post up my "I buy mortgage notes!"

When balloon was due I put a HELOC on the property, paid the owner out, and took cash out for my next deal.

Paid cash for the purchase, and then financed into a HELOC to pull most of my funds back out and have access to the remainder if needed.

I have a tenant renting a room who has always paid his rent for the past two years.

If a rental/lease contract is a legally binding document...enforced by collecting rent...or enforced by an eviction process if rent is not paid....then can there not be a document (legally binding) for a tenant to sign that would relinquish their rights as a squatter or due process of eviction...

Since the bills are sent to the service address, I wasn’t aware of the situation until now.I’d like to arrange for a plumber to diagnose the leak, but with the water shut off until the balance is paid, I’m unsure how to proceed.

But honestly yes most agents are gonna pitch you, doesn’t mean you can’t get good information or make good connections but definitely understand everyone in real estate only gets paid if they sell you property. 

So, she offered me the opportunity to buy it, since her debt to income was to high, and she paid the down payment.

i think it's because of the tremendous rise in home equity in the past 5 years.i used a HELOC to (1) help with a down payment on a short term loan, that I then paid back in full when I refinanced; and (2) to consolidate some higher interest debt, which I am now paying back by making extra payments against the principal since HELOCs are generally interest only for the first 5-10 years.