My alternative is renting until $1M+ single family homes become feasible. 

(it's been a few weeks now)  Are there any other Window phone users out there that may know of an alternative?

Alternatively more individuals invest directly in real estate, and not through funds.

What's their level of expertise - how many unique alternative investments do they hold?

An alternative; the seller pulls as much cash out of the property from a refinance as he can and the investor takes title subject to the new existing financing.The seller has the cash and the investors has the property.Another alternative ---- ask the seller to give you X$ for repairs at time of settlement.Another alternative ---  agree to give the seller a Hybrid bonus once the property is sold....10- 20 - 30%.The hybrid usually works when a seller is accepting less than what he wants and the informal  partnerships works great.Charles

I'm trying to open up this discussion in terms of both good and bad...After speaking with a few people and lenders on acquiring money for a down payment on a multifamily property, a secured personal loan came up as an alternative to coming up with enough money for part of the down payment (oh, say $10,000).That means:> Secured personal loan (putting a lien on a car as collateral) worth $10,000 at terms of 4.25% APR over 5 years. - Total Down: $20,000> A mortgage for $102,000 @ 5% over 30 years , meaning a monthly PITI of about $800> 2 Duplexes (4-plex) with total monthly income of $2,400 *these numbers are somewhat irrelevant to the question, but is just an attempt at giving real world data*The question is: with the acquisition of another mortgage, what are the upsides and downsides of acquiring a secured personal loan as well?

Hi @Chris Anderson,The Black Diamond REIA is in Waltham and alternates monthly meetings between Waltham and Worcester.

It's actually cheaper or the same cost as a lot of alternatives.

the HELOC will be based on appraised value...appraisals are hard to predict, but you have a huge equity position...so even if it comes back conservative, you should be good...credit unions are your best bet...better on fees and higher LTV....but you should shop to confirm.The alternative for you is putting a loan in place and using the delayed finance exception...try to take cash out.

As another alternative, buy another property so that the value of the two together totals more than $75K (should be pretty easy), and get a blanket mortgage which covers both properties.