It will be very difficult to cash flow in Austin using traditional LTR methods unless you put down a huge down payment.

Upfront expenses and monthly payments must be considered when calculating the return on your investment.EXAMPLEYou cash out $100,000 of your equity and use this as a down payment on a $400,000 investment property.

do not use a line of credit for a down payment. 

Purchase price: $640,000 Cash invested: $220,000 Purchase price $640,000Got it at this price because there is a non-paying tenant in unit 2 (rent value $3,500), we're in court Rehab $60,000All in cash (rehab plus down payment) $217,500Rehab included ground level basement and 2 parking spot drivewayMonthly cash flow $1,500 ARV $950,000Equity $470,000Refi cash out (August 2024) $150,000 (used to buy new rental)New monthly cash flow breaking even (non-paying tenant still in unit 2)New equity about $200,000

If you do have enough other income then you dont even need to lease out this property to start your refinance.However if you dont have enough income to qualify with no rental income offset then yes you will need to obtain your lease(s) and security deposit + 1st months rents deposited before you can utilize 75% of this gross income - your monthly PITIA payment (in terms of qualification on this property refinance.So all in all Id make sure what your current debt to income position is first of all (DTI) and then strategize to see if you even need the leases at all.

100% of the deals I've done with Safeguard have had late payments and/or major issues. 

Evict the tenant for non payment of rent.

If you're willing and able, I do recommend the "house hacking" strategy which is just a fancy name for buying a rental property and living in one of the units, because you'll get very favorable financing - an owner-occupied fixed-rate 30-year mortgage.I'd also say, analyze that property as if you won't live there and it's a pure rental, and make sure the property is still cash flow positive if there's a tenant in your unit because then you'll know if it's actually a good investment.And when you analyze it, include payment of a property manager in your #s because if you don't, and doing so would make it go cash flow negative, then you've just bought yourself a job because you literally can't step away from managing it without losing money.

The problem is that your debt payments are going to basically wipe out that $400K profit unless there is room to increase revenue or reduce expenses.

And what happens after the 5, 7 or 10 years depends on the lender but typically it would be a balloon payment.