Initially, we wanted to  have the loan under my wife's name only but my the loan officer from the builder's lending arm told us that if I am in the buyer, the RE Agent and the mortgagor (in the loan), I could use my agent commission towards closing costs and down payment.

Similar properties with both sides rented have sold in the past three months for about $500K, but I think the local market has probably softened somewhat.

After that initial down payment, the bank will basically be financing your investments.

I'll hand it to Pace Morby tho- he is an amazing marketer. 

One of our borrowers who successfully flips on the South Side (Dobson, Park Forest, etc.) is capitalizing on the abundance of discounted rehab properties (on market and off market via wholesalers and the such), which is a key strategy given rising rates. 

We were very clear that we were looking for strategies and why and it all sounded good in the initial interview.

If the market value mentioned above is accurate and the “initial” loan balance hasn’t increased by rehab funding, I wrote above that the proceeds are just a couple million after closing costs and commissions.

@Susan Kang what is drawing you specifically to these two markets as compared to other great markets in the mid-west?

It does not matter if you find the single best market in the US.

Have you all invested in other markets already or is this the first?