It’s important to ensure you’re comfortable with these risks and consult a financial advisor.If you choose to use a HELOC, consider traditional financing or private loans as alternatives if you prefer not to risk your home.As for your first rental, markets in the Midwest and Southeast offer great opportunities with turnkey properties that are tenant-ready and appreciating.

So as long as someone gets realistic with the TRUE cost to  own and maintain and the numbers work it can work but I am a big proponent if your going to have these types of assets they need to be paid for to really enjoy any financial benefit.lastly I can say the same thing about new builds.. over the long haul unless there is REAL appreciation more than just 2 or 3% if you sell within say 10 years your going to be lucky to break even as your going to have to spend 20 to 30k making the houses fresh again to get top dollar a 10 year old rental is not going to bring top dollar and the value at that point will only be what an investors will pay for a given cash flow..

Do you need to refinance quickly to avoid a balloon payment or other financial pressure?

Prioritize your financial stability.

Always do your due diligence folks, search for their name on here, check for criminal and civil court cases in the county they live/do business in, etc. 

A frank, hopefully insightful, dive into real estate and financial markets.

I wish I could say that I'm venturing into real estate investing for some benevolent purpose like providing low-income housing for the needy... but financial gain is certainly my angle lol.

Often, it will also need work.So, that is causing investors to lower their standards and buy Class C & D rentals.Problem is, most investors apply Class A assumptions to these Class C/D properties - and then blame everyone else when they don't get their "expected" results.Check out copy & paste info below for more dtails:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend 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 am wondering whether they are requesting the Court to repay the first mortgage although the auction stated it was subject to the first mortgage. 

Both are excellent platforms which save people immense amount of work and tme by compiling all the critical data you need in 1 place but there leads are way behind the county recorders/courts/notices i.e the source of most motivated seller leads.