We were in a financial position where we could keep our existing home, upgrade, and purchase another home.

I believes that well-planned real estate investments can open the door to financial freedom and generational wealth.Welcome!

Alternatively if they all love the deal, that's also likely a good sign.You can get a dog of a property in a crap neighborhood that will yield a 13.6% gross cap (not saying yours is), but that certainly doesn't tell the whole financial picture of how the asset will perform.

At one point I talked to my financially advisor and he said that it would be smart for me to open a HELOC on the property, but not draw from it, except in the case of emergencies.  

@Derick JenningsRecommend 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?

Dallas was the hot market post the financial collapse of 2008.

@Amir PortalRecommend 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?

For the lease, can you list the girlfriend as an occupant rather than a co-tenant since she won’t be a financially responsible party?

@Tove Fox hope you find this copy & paste useful:)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------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?

Technically as the manager of the LLC you can open an accout with any financial institution though they don’t all cooperate when it’s an IRA owned LLC.