Picking up the property in distress and fixing it up offers an opportunity to get some, most, or all of your capital back at the refi table.Here is a very simple deal to play out how it works. 

If you play it smart and invest in a "Primary Home" first by targeting a Multifamily 2-4 unit home.

I will say your traditional long term rentals will be hard to pencil in this market, but a buy and hold play is still a tremendous opportunity with the housing shortage.

So you have to give it time.My tip, play with the BP rental calculator and start with a $1M property value, 10k in rent and very conservative assumptions for rent growth and appreciation.

You might have wonderful memories of grandma’s house and know it’s incredibly safe based on fond memories of playing cops and robbers with your friends at night, but guests have their own point of view.

Experience can also play a large factor on financing. 

If so, you can go the conventional financing route and DTI, employment history, income and credit will come into play.

Just feels like none of the explanations I hear completely add up - wondering if there's something bigger at play.

I've worked with investors who exclusively work with rent-by-rooms and while I can't speak to any legal troubles that have come up I can certainly say that location is going to play a large factor in the occupancy.

After playing around with the rental for about six months, we found the sweet spot and it now makes more than I could've imagined.