Hi Ignatius, following David Greene's Core 4 strategy—realtor, contractor, property manager, and lender—can give you confidence to invest in any location.

I had the following questions:1.

Following - I'm based in California

@Nathaniel Dean Morrisoni'm still not sure I'm following you, but if you're asking - should you use extra cash to put more money down on a house, and/or use extra cash to lower the rate - those are pretty personal choices so you have to decide what's right for you and what fits your budget. 

My reputation and proven successes did help.

@Ashley LehmanBigger Pockets is a great place for education and networking and is full of great content.I recommend that you check out the following resources:1.

Unfortunately, Figure told me the following:"Yes, we offer our HELOC product to primary, secondary and investment properties.

Follow Nathan Gesner's advice. 

Now a listing agent will do work before the listing is active (paperwork, marketing and home prep) but once it is active, the listing agent has to be ready to follow up on all leads that come their way and answer all inquiries, but you can do that sitting poolside.

If you haven’t already, follow and search keywords STR, short term rental, and Airbnb — you”ll receive an overwhelming amount of information.