It’s a great way to grow faster.HELOC or Equity Tapping: If you have equity in another property, using a HELOC or cash-out refinance could help cover the down payment without affecting your DTI as much.Seller Financing or Creative Deals: Look for sellers willing to finance directly, which bypasses traditional mortgage qualification hurdles.Scaling quickly often involves combining strategies—play around with what works best for your goals.

Most people have a mortgage on their home when they sell it.

For connecting with local resources like mortgage brokers, investors, and agents, the Austin Real Estate Investors Association (REIA) is a great starting point.

In the case mortgage foreclosure, I usually offer to pay for the existing mortgage and give them a little extra to move.

I just used cash to build my first 3 specs no loans at all.. once done and sold then I went to lima got one loan from them.. then went to local bank ( much much cheaper) and got a 3 mil  guidance line and went on to build 30 or so in charleston.. you have to prove the model.. its not like buying a rental where lenders look strongly at your fico  fico is required but not the main consideration like and investor loan and all you need is 20% down or 30% down and a few bucks in reserve that wont fly with spec loans..

Good luck with getting this tenant to accept higher rent, because you've trained your tenant to think they have a "mortgage payment" that never goes up!

The Heloc can also pose as a debt obstacle since its an open end mortgage a.k.a credit card.a mortgage is also set up over 30 years so it offers a lower rate and payment. 

Karl's Mortgage Calculator - This is a downloadable app for your phone. 

A good PM can refer you to top sales agents in the market, they can tell you what type of rentals are in demand, they can tell you which areas are best for investments, and they can cross-check what the sales agent tells you about specific properties.Remember: cheaper doesn't mean you'll make more money.Start by going to www.narpm.org to search their directory of managers.

Quote from @Erick Pena: A "good" rental property is one that covers all expenses (mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance, property management fees, and any other costs) and still leave a surplus (commonly referred to as cash flow).Calculate cash flow as: Cash Flow = Rental Income − Operating Expenses − DebtThere's much more to it, but that's the basic idea.