You hit the nail on the head...that's where the SFH to Duplex conversion gets financially unrealistic.

Hello @Diana Teng,If you choose a city that meets the financial independence requirements and work with an experienced local team, you should be OK.The goal of real estate investing is financial independence.

But I don't know your personal situation and all the financial details. 

That helps you recover some of the money so if things proceed to a lockout, you're not as bad off financially.

Some "go with their gut" which is a bad way to measure someone's financial responsibility.

I was a SWO for 8 years, and the best thing I did to improve my financial life was real estate investing. 

I cant speak for every deal they have ever done, but I will say that any deals That I was involved in with safeguard and there was any issue whatsoever they jumped in and worked diligently to solve the issue as if it was there own money. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

if they are pressuring you like this.PLEASE watch the American Greed Episode on Remmington Financial  .not saying these guys wont or don't fund of course.. but when I do my deals with my banks its common that I pay for the phase one and the appraiser directly..  

NYC laws around rentals—especially short- to mid-term—can be tricky, so you’ll want to avoid any compliance headaches.The biggest challenge with this plan is finding a rent-stabilized apartment that makes financial sense and actually gives you breathing room.