Focus on the fundamentals of the real estate and stop chasing an arbitrary door count.

A 6 month season on this property wouldn’t be the end of the world, as we’ll be working to increase rents, etc to increase the property value before a refi (likely 12-18 month process); however, it would be great to hit an 80% LTV  (instead of 70% LTV) on the exit side of things to cash out myself and all private money 100% after the value add.On this deal, I’m assuming the CD balance is eligible for refinance, since it’s a lien on the property; however, in order to make the 20% down payment eligible as well, should that be recorded as a 2nd lien at the time of closing, or is commercial more flexible/a different beast?

Feel free to share what’s most important to you and any other factors that influence your decision-making process.Hey Jeff,I think fundamentally it is finding a group that says 'yes'.

A common mistake I observe are investors focused on unit count rather than the fundamentals of the underlying real estate that's being bought.

It makes no sense that this would need to be REPEATED, considering this is the BIGGEST Eligibility Qualification for Section 121:  Ownership and Residence for 2 out of past 5 years.But where does this second rule come from that the home cannot be used as a rental "in the year you sold your home"?  

Lots of people think that STR is just instant cashflow, but it is fundamentally a different business model.

Cost could change but the bigger issue is making sure the usage is still eligible for the type of policy you have.As an example, at the time of application, a company might ask are all lease agreements for one year or longer. 

I think the best thing to do to set you up to be eligible for financing across the board will be to buy a mostly turnkey deal, and then do a lipstick reno out of pocket, and then refinance.

Fundamentally the point I was trying to get across in my original post wasn’t about my due diligence, its that the cost of known and unknown repairs when you first acquire a REI is way higher than people seem to anticipate.The way my tax person explained it is the 25K limit you’re talking about is the limit to losses you can claim per property per year, I haven’t hit that for any property individually so it works out.

Posters will chime in on recommended strategy but real estate is extremely localized and the fundamentals of the real estate in any given market are what should be dictating your investment strategy not arbitrarily deciding to buy single family homes vs. duplexes.