Since the assumable financing and seller carry combined could put a strain on your monthly expenses, it’s important to model different scenarios for vacancy, maintenance, and management costs.

I definitely agree with your sentiment regarding borrowing from family/friends, and I don’t want that kind of strain on my relationships.

This allows you to pivot when you can get a more favorable situation.Renting:Pros: Flexibility, less upfront cost, maintenance covered by landlord.Cons: Limited equity building, rising rents can strain affordability.Buying:Pros: Potential for long-term wealth building through equity and appreciation.

Although I probably get killed on transaction fees which is part of why I am not pulling the trigger (along with lack of time to execute well).There are games you can play for increasing your returns in the stock market (sector rotations, rebalancing, being a good company picker) but you lack operational control. 

Look for sellers who need to sell—due to financial strain, property issues, or other urgent situations.

There are rotations that happen every year, where soldiers leave for the next station and then the next batch comes in soon after.

This discrepancy can strain property owners financially.I onboarded a customer and later found out he was way over the set furnishing budget.

This joint effort enabled us to maximize the property’s potential without financial strain, proving the strength of our partnership-driven approach to real estate investing.

To mitigate this, investors focused on equity typically maintain a CapEx reserve fund or factor in their personal finances to cover these costs, ensuring they don’t face financial strain.

@Ben Cochran I hope you have factored STR tax savings into your cashflow and ROI as it can be significant.Leveraging equity to purchase a short-term rental (STR) in Tampa Bay can diversify your portfolio and potentially generate strong cash flow, but it also increases your financial risk.While your properties hold significant equity, adding debt from HELOCs or a DSCR loan could strain your finances if STR performance fluctuates or costs rise.