I recently did some data crunching on Zillow's public datasets. I wanted to see what markets have both a relatively high rent-to-price ratio and high appreciation. I came up with this list:region-name:mean-appreciatio...

@Mitch ProvostFrom my experience of working with over 400 investors, your property near Texas A&M in College Station/Bryan has strong investment potential due to the consistent demand for student housing driven by steady enrollment growth.

While most of his experience is with new construction rather than remodels, he’s already given me a few pointers and is looking into potential referrals for me.

It's an amazing market to be in because you can still find the 1% rule and positive cash flow while getting amazing appreciation potential.

I've had a couple OOS investors ask about ADU potential in our market... not sure what hurdles there might be with the city (permitting, zoning, or otherwise).

If your business is worth significantly more than what you owe on it, you may be able to borrow against that equity to fund your first deal—rather than walking away from a potentially appreciating asset.Some investors take this route, keeping ownership of their business while using its value to qualify for financing or attract a capital partner.

Secondly, short-term rentals provide flexibility for owners, allowing them to potentially use the property themselves when not rented out.

It is something I am interested in doing in the future, potentially even this year, but I am curious how to put concrete numbers to this decision.  

This just seems like it puts me in a potential bad situation if something goes wrong during the process.  

THEN, I plan to purchase the second home using a FHA or conventional loan (3%-5% down), for which I will likely pay the monthly cost out-of-pocket, maybe with some rental income support if it is a duplex.My concern is, I do not want to spend my savings or weigh down my debt-to-income ratio so much so that I cannot qualify for and pay the down payment and closing for the lending on the second home.Questions: - With the first home being multi-family, 75% of the rental income (or potential rental income initially) will relatively either maintain or boost my debt-to-income ratio from lenders' perspectives, right?