lot going on in this post.first, no way will you get a 5.5% on a non occupied investment property.(2) you *may* end up with positive net income on the property without having the mortgage writeoff - this means a visit from the tax man. as an investor, the "write offs" or tax deductions you will receive, if your business entity is structured correctly and your CPA knows what he/she is doing and you keep tabs on it, will far exceed any write offs you will earn anywhere else...look at it this way...IF...you HELOC...taking 100k out of your property...now you've got 100k to invest in an reo or other distressed property - CASH...real estate is about leverage...but with the CASH purchase, it frees you up to do many different things down the road...IF...you "buy right" (below market value > 30%) - combined with the CASH purchase, you'll create a return on your investment that is EXCELLENT.if you took an arbitrary 100k (from anywhere, say it grew on a tree) and you stuck it in a savings account earning 5% (which is a lot for a savings account)...compare that to the 20% return you'll get off the monthly cash flow from a good rental...not to mention depreciation..and future leverage options available to you through this investment...the returns just compound.now this all deserves a qualifier...we don't know the specifics of your current home, your finances, what you owe on it currently, other debts etc.all that must be taken into account.

There are land lot loans (for residential lots) that allow for up to 90% financing (90 LTV); general guidelines are:- mid FICO of 660- willingness to go FULL DOC- A debt to income not to exceed 45- A max. loan size of 400K- 6 mohths of reserves required- Up to 10 acres allowedb.

I guess I have scarcity mentality.2) Is there a formula for assessing how much risk is smart, not in terms of comfort level but balancing the numbers, such as: how much credit card debt you have and years to retirement.

What is being auctioned off takes care of that lenders debt, no one else’s except if it a first mortgage, the second and third lose their equity in the property.

I would want to know what the rent will look like compared with the total debt you'll have on the property.

Almost zero credit card debt.

Cap rate is net operating income (income minus all expenses except debt service) divided by purchase price.

End of the year sales was largely spurred by credit card debts.

That's net spendable cash after expenses and debt servicing.

Am I buying the debt or the property at sale?