@Heather Jensen Are you looking to build a house for investment or your primary residence? 

Honest conversation about them being able to afford the property and expressing it appears they are struggling. 

For your first question, I’d honestly recommend waiting to put in an offer until you’re fully sure you have the cash to close.

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

This means that you will probably need to pay registration and filing fees in at least 2 states if you don’t buy CA property as a CA resident.Be sure to tell your accountant that you may now need to file non-resident income tax returns in each state where you own property as well.

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

If my primary residence has $500k HELOC, could I use it to purchase a 2nd primary residence and rent out the first one?

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Thank youGerman It is the CA Franchise Tax Board's position that an out of state LLC owning an out of state property run by a California resident would still need to register in California:https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/m...

You can build in sound proofing, but honestly I'd go with 2-3 floors for each so you don't have the tenant downstairs complaining about the one upstairs walking around at night.For costs-it could be more or less than new retail-depends on finishes of each.