I'd be much more keen for you to start acting now if you ALSO had at least $20k saved in a normal account.Another reason you're likely not ready yet is: how will you know when you see a REAL "deal"?

@Shane Pearlman Post is a bit old now but I’m also looking at this market with a keen eye (was born here).

I make an offer on nearly every property I look at, and in many cases a full asking price, if not a little above to ensure we get it, especially when it's too keenly priced.

I'm not keen on putting things on hold for that long.

We weren't super keen on the houses in Boca, albeit, that has the best-rated school that is not a "choice" school.

I'm keen on markets offering that for $60k.

This will give you the most flexibility, assuming you can let it sit there with no balance on it for as long as you want.Also, it seemed to me that some institutions were not keen on the idea of using a HELOC for investment purchases, so, just be aware of that.

the owner of the company says you don't.. but others have sent me PM's that say that's not true.. so who knows.the issue is with any 100% financing to a new investor finding the deal that works is the hard part.. many just will never get a deal that has enough equity spread as competition for the deals is keen by those who actually have money or funding in place.. that's the major issue.. finding the deals that work and have the necessary spread.. 

Similar to you, we'd like to do a 640 sq ft unit (the max allowed in SMC) and are looking at homes with this goal keenly in mind.Are there any hidden traps, things we should be aware of going into this, or things that you wish you had been able to better plan for?

Surely we couldn't offer 88K, what the estimate is saying if the list price is 104K, If the estimate was close to the list price we would be keen to offer 99K.