We are paying cash to him every week or so when he sends bill. 

You have to disclose all of this when you sell, so you will end up paying your plumber or discounting to your buyer.

You will probably want to pay attention to the income tax basis to any proposed transactions as well as be wary of any transfers that cause a property tax reassessment, depending on whether that amounts to a big increase in taxes or not.Feel free to reach out if you would like referrals in San Diego County in order to work remotely.

Determine at what percentage of completion you'll pay for work done. i.e.

Keep in mind of the I/O(payments/period) and game plan on how fast you'd like to pay it down. 

My experience in Massachusetts, where it took nearly a year to evict a non-paying tenant, has made me more selective about the locations I invest in.I am looking forward to learning and sharing insights with this community! 

I was studying the market and my rent will be just enough to cover the mortgage and HOA fee now I might to pay out of pocket for insurance but don't want to sell it yet because the area is growing and might have good appreciation in the years that follow.

both have 5yr pre pay penalty. 

We almost went with a loan that we have to pay all the cost upfront and then get reimbursed on the back end and that was just not something we were willing to do.

Depending on how close I was to having 20% equity in the property and being able to avoid PMI, I’d consider using some of my cash to pay down the mortgage when I refinanced.