The number is ticking up but Ohio is still fine in vast majority of cases - anything over loan balance of $110,223 (2024 limit) doesn't apply - since most DSCR lenders have minimums around $100k loan amount, barely affects thingshttps://com.ohio.gov/divisions-and-programs/financial-institutions/consumer-finance/guides-and-resources/loan-prepayment-penalty-and-adjustment#:~:text=Effective%20January%201%2C%202024%2C%20no,loan%20of%20less%20than%20%24110%2C223.

The government has an interest in ensuring its populace isn’t exploited and consumed.

A box of 6 flushmount LED light fixtures are about $80 and they each consume about 12 watts.https://www.lowes.com/pd/Project-Source-6-Pack-9-i...https://www.lowes.com/pd/Project-Source-4-Pack-11-...

This can help offset your mortgage and other expenses.Single-Family Home: If you choose a single-family home, you may have the option to rent out rooms or a separate unit if there's space, but the income potential might be lower compared to a duplex.Affordability:Duplex: Financing a duplex might be more challenging, but the rental income can assist with affordability.Single-Family Home: Single-family homes might be more accessible for first-time buyers, but you won't have rental income to offset expenses unless you choose to rent out a portion of the property.Property Management:Duplex: Managing a duplex involves dealing with multiple tenants and units, which can be more time-consuming than managing a single-family home.Single-Family Home: Managing a single-family home is typically simpler since there's only one tenant.Privacy:Duplex: Living in a duplex means you'll share a building with tenants, which could impact your privacy.Single-Family Home: Offers more privacy as you won't be sharing the property with renters.Market Conditions:Duplex: In some markets, duplexes may offer better appreciation potential and cash flow due to the rental income.Single-Family Home: Depending on the location, single-family homes may have better long-term appreciation potential.Long-Term Plans:Duplex: If your goal is to accumulate rental properties, starting with a duplex can be a good way to get into real estate investing.Single-Family Home: If you prioritize a more traditional living arrangement and don't want to manage rental units, a single-family home might be a better fit.

HELOC is just a line of credit like a form of credit card that allows you to tap into your equity at your convenience and the consumer can always payoff the line if they wish to get the full line amount.

Abating the odor (tobacco and Marijuana) is costly and time consuming. 

They have a place they could potentially close on by the end of the year, but its new construction and the closing is subject to change based on the builder (and the area was just in the path of Beryl, so that timeline could have been impacted), so if that's the only thing they're thinking of exchanging into, I'm inclined to suggest they consider consuming the losses now for simplicity's sake, especially if the exchange timeline can't be guaranteed to work out.

As more and more states see flipping “wholesaling” residential real estate where a homeowner is involved as needing consumer protection the fantasy of no capital no experience easy entry in this field will be eliminated (good riddance!).  

So free houses will be a while, but I do worry about a shift in the job market.My gut feeling is we will see unemployment depart from the ultra low 3.9% it is now in the next couple months, which has more to do with consumer spending than with AI.

So, for example, MN law Sec. 82.67 MN Statues has, in summary "A real estate broker or salesperson shall provide to a consumer in the sale and purchase of a residential real property transaction at the first substantive contact with the consumer an agency disclosure form in substantially the form set forth in subdivision...."