Purchase price: $230,000 Cash invested: $200,000Two homes on half an acre.

The last house I purchased was $227,500 and we put down $85K. 

In other words, not resold to the government so the bank had more flexibility on the condition.I look at the original commitment letter and it states "xxx amount will be advanced at closing for the purchase of an investment property, and the remaining balance of the loan to be placed into an escrow account to be disbursed as improvements are made".No points, and only one closing, so I don't have to deal with a short term HML that I have to refinance in under a year.Hope that helps!

(IF you purchased and lived in property asap, then rented it out, then returned to it it sell it years later - better plan.

Purchase price: $110,000 Cash invested: $45,000 Recently purchased my first house to use as a primary residence, currently I am renovating the kitchen and adding a full bathroom to the first floor.

I seriously looked into purchasing a few years back in Valencia but decided ultimately the US had more potential.

Quote from @Paul Whitehurst: Many will tell you to borrow money from Property A to purchase Property B, but that's known as over-leveraging and not recommended for a newer investor.

I have used HELOCs for probably most of the purchases of the properties I own. 

Have you guys ever purchased a property without physically seeing it?

So the idea of doing this all from afar is a bit daunting, however, I know the most important thing here will be to create a great team and outsource as much as possible.I have set my sights on a couple of different markets being in the Southeast and the Midwest; these markets seem to provide the cash flow I am initially interested in generating to value add to the properties I purchase.