Your response really helped me understand the key aspects of short sales, especially regarding title issues, lender valuation, and inspections.I truly appreciate you taking the time to share your expertise!

The refinance step is where you pull out this equity, typically in the form of a cash-out refinance.Here’s how it works:You refinance the property at its new appraised value (after rehab and renting).You take out a new loan based on that increased value, ideally for the full amount or more than what you originally paid for the property.The goal is to pull out enough money to cover the cost of the original purchase and rehab (or even more, depending on the property’s appreciation).This allows you to recover your initial investment, which can then be used to buy your next property.5.

Offering a rent-free period helps the seller stabilize, but what happens if they still can't afford rent when the time comes?

More on how that is calculated below.

I started my company in my name or more accurately my firms name, but it is affiliated with a broker.

This is obviously much better than $1,400 per month.On top of that, you will now get 2x the depreciation write-off so your taxes should go down.On top of that, you will now get 2x the appreciation when real estate price go up.On top of that, your tenants are helping you pay down the loan, initially at about $100/mo for both properties, which gradually gets better and better.On top of that, you now have more units so if one or two goes vacant, you have more renters covering the losses of the vacant units.If you want to keep these properties, I would do a cash-out refi and go buy more rental real estate.

Your not correct under many different circumstances.First property tax is 1.1% (fairly safe) with 2% annual increase (prop 13).Next expenses include a lot more than property tax and interest. 

More then willing to share what we have learnt with others.

He gave me the owner's number (Jeff) and I called him on the spot, hoping to be able to offer my services to help him find and sell more homes in the neighborhood.

Then you can read a more in-depth book like The Book On Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner or The Unofficial Guide to Real Estate Investing by Spencer Strauss.2.