Banks are very leery of doing a bunch of cash out refi's. 2) The question there too is how much money would they even let you pull out and where are you getting your deals at in terms of ARV/LTV?

How much better is this property you are looking at than the comps in terms of rents, location and overall condition?

In terms of tips, it's all dependent on what route you want to go with investing.

I am curious on how different it is in terms of property management, lending, tenant screening, maintenance, utility, etc...Thanks!

Also looking into fix and flip opportunities in Jersey.I have been managing a couple two families the past few years but I still have ALOT to learn in terms of investing.I've been contributing as much knowledge as I can, while also learning so much good stuff from the wonderful BP community! 

I am a vet as well.We did great on our personal residence in terms of equity, but my wife will agree with me all day when I say that we should have bought a fourplex with my VA loan.If we ever move and sell our personal residence, we will use the VA loan to facilitate the purchase of a MF property.

It is true that as of yet; I am still very wet behind the ears & as green as they come in some ways of real estate in terms of personal experience.It is also a true statement that I am currently working with extremely limited seed capital.

So without knowing all the details but basing the ones I didn't know on my house (exact same house) I came up with these figures running it through the BP calculator.This is all assuming I could get the house for a good price of around 185,000 (asking 199,000 and I paid 190 for mine about 6 years ago in better condition so may be able to get it for less) a little rehabbing (10k worth) would probably be worth around (210-220 conservatively)If I went the traditional routePurchase Closing Costs:$10,000.00Estimated Repairs:$10,000.00Total Project Cost:$205,000.00After Repair Value:$215,000.00 Down Payment:$37,000.00Loan Amount:$148,000.00Loan Points:$2,960.00Loan Fees:Amortized Over:15 yearsLoan Interest Rate:4.000%Monthly P&I:$1,094.74 Total Cash NeededBy Borrower:$57,000.00I know with renting my basement apartment for $1300 and what I could rent the rest of the house for I could probably get about $3,000 in rent from the house.The calculator put the cash flow around $800 per month (honestly that would be great but Id consider it a bonus because my goal is in the long run when its paid off to collect the rents for retirement and would probably use any cashflow in the meantime to re-invest in something else)so here is what I have in terms of fundsroughly $10,000 cash50-70k in equity in my home (based on what it would appraise for 210-240 owe 160)my thoughts were pull the equity out of my home for the down payment and maybe enough for any repairs.

I also agree with the concepts echoed here by others in terms of knowing your numbers and money source and availability PRIOR to entering into a contract.

You took the right steps in terms of being careful, but taking those steps often involves spending money up front.