Hello everyone,My business partner and I are considering buying in Niagara Falls as a short term rental investment and we'd love to speak to someone there running a vacation rental.

Numbers always look good on paper but between holding costs when acquiring and renovating property, closing costs on can also add up.I am not saying it cannot be done, as I did it with about 75 loans in a very similar fashion (except I was buying NPL's and got them reperforming).

I would buy a fixer upper and rent it out.

My 2 cents but I would rather buy it and put $60k and finance the $240k at 7% than $175k at 4.25% and have to deal with a wrap etc. 

If you are interested in becoming a landlord or buy and hold investor a great way to get started is by house hacking a multifamily with an owner occupied loan. 

You could also get a line of credit for about $150k (you should be able to borrow 75% of the value.)The reason I suggest this is…1) you save $40-$60k in selling costs. 2) you have a lower blended interest rate (2/3rds at 3.25% and 1/3rd at 7 or 8% instead of the whole $500k at 7 or 8%) saving you another $1k/mo in interest. 3) you only pay interest on that $150k when you actually use it, not from day 1  Unless you hate this property, or want to buy something you can’t afford without selling, that would be my plan.

You buy today so that you pay less than if you were buying when you retire and hopefully you make some money along the way.

But, know what you want to accomplish beforehand.Creative Finance is a great way to buy properties when done properly and lawfully. 

Investment Info:Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Madison.

Hoping to go down one of two paths:1- Buy a condo or small single family home and build equity and create value with my maintenance/construction background.2- Find a cash provider to do this on a larger scale with a 3-5 unit building.