Why pay rent when your landlord gives you free housing, free maintenance team, free mortgage, free electricity, free water, free trash?

We do some cosmetic improvements to bring homes to our standard, typically carpet and paint, upgrade lighting etc.

All the same rules of a standard DSCR cash-out refinance would still apply.

It wasn't until the Garn-St.Germain act in 1982 that they started becoming standard.

@Denise Lang some copy & paste thoughts:TYPES OF RENTAL INVESTMENTSRecommend 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?

I can appreciate your frustration and have worked with hundreds of investors over the last 20 years navigating the more complex waters with respect to Self-Directed Solo 401(k)s.

From talking to locals, there's a couple of issues than need to be addressed, some are the non-ecological practices that some of those developers have, unfortunately, our government profits from this investors and allows them to destroy manglers (which are the natural water purifying system of that area) dismantling hectares of mangroves and degraded the habitat of resident and migratory species burying animals alive.There's proof of fecal material floating beneath the city of Tulum, only 20% of the water is sent to the water treatment plant, there's no infrastructure for the exponential growth.The landfills in the middle of the jungle that is leaking hazardous pollutants into the freshwater system and that something that developers won't tell you.I love my country and it would be a disaster for everybody if this place ends up like some other great beaches around the world, that are completely ruined by greedy investors not following the rules.There's no urban or comprehensive master plan, and one of the risks is that Tulum will be like Playa del Carmen is today, overgrown and with environmental devastation.I will advise doing a lot of research before getting something in Tulum, different country, different rules, and practices.

That's pretty industry standard. 

You are talking about a new water service line upgrade right?

In the City of LA these unpermitted units typically still end up with a decent amount of construction work to bring it up to current code standards, but if you plan for it, and your budget/proforma allows for it, it can be an acceptable investment.