- As a rule of thumb, I will use a home as a furnished rental vs. unfurnished rental only if I am confident that I can recoup the furnishing costs in under a year.

Not sure about you or your lenders but I can get pre qualified in under 30 minutes.

Short term as in under one year ideally, where I know I could repay the funds quickly.  

My roommate has begun his journey into real estate investing and now owns his second house in under 13 months.I would love to pitch him the idea of setting up a lease purchasing agreement with the commitment of buying the place in 2-3 years.

What market are you in? Under

We have a 1br in the Hemispheres complex, on the barrier island (2nd line of buildings from the beach) in Hallandale Beach, FL. 2.5 years ago it was rented in under 1 month for 1450, while similar apartments in the complex were rented 1500+.

If you get locked in under the market rents it will not only create a legacy of low returns for you, but it will also be an issue for future buyers.  100% you will not be able to do step type of rent increase to market, RAP just won't allow it.I understand your concerns about your tenant and that is something that you have to personally consider. 

Had to buy with cash, because nobody would lend in the area, especially on 10k houses. 2 years ago I was finally able to start refinancing.Now the market has turned and I get inundated with postcards and calls from investors. 

.$279k - purchase$107k - reno$640k - current value$400k - amount of loan wanted Since you paid 279K that would be the max cash you can get out in under 6 months. 

I am renting my house $300/month less than they are, I had someone in my property in under a week, they had theirs sit on the market for 2 months.