@Amedeo M. yes I hear you- numbers are tight everywhere but if I can borrow in the UK at 2-3% (albeit floating) that makes a difference to 6.5-7% for a US loan for US property.

@Matthew Lobacz it sounds like you have some floating rate debt on the property.

There are reputable ones that do not require that in advance which often means that they are floating one job to pay another and so on.There are a number of good contractors out there and when you find one, hang on and become their steady work and they will remember that when another project comes up.

So I wouldn't stress too much about the money "lost," so long as you can afford to float that expense. 

You put the $200K down on the loan and your worst case is you're saving around 4.5 - 5% interest while you wait for a buying opportunity.Full disclosure though - while a heloc at prime or prime minus a little can be had fairly easy that's a floating rate. 

On the commercial Freddie Note the numbers were: 4.88% interest; 80% LTV loan; 10 years fixed; 10 add'l years floating for a 20-year term; 30 year amortization period; 1 year IO up front. 

I currently have strong W2 income and although the -$400/mo. figure is not terrifying, I'd like the property to float itself and not get in the way of future investments (negatively impacting DTI ratio for years to come).So, is this a good deal?

Finance wise I do have an emergency fund (separate from what I've saved) to keep me float for 4-5 months for unexpected events

As far as installation, it's been an easy-click floating flooring job.

See how that floats their boat.