A lot of the articles i read online made it seem as simple as, if you have leftover, use it! 

Although I'm looking to buy multifamilies, I found myself in a situation where I need to buy a personal home. Going to bid on a Xome home. Already had one auction where the reserve price wasn't met. (I was not the bid...

I'm currently reading https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/long-distance-... and lots of good advice there.

Great tip!

My immediate needs with BP are to learn the most effective ways to identify leads and obtain financing, along with tips and tricks on buying and managing MF property outside my local market - this is a big desire but also a big concern, not having done it before.  

@Bill Hampton Thanks for those tips to help me get started. 

Thank you both for the tip!

Let's pretend it's a generous 1 yr CD with no early withdrawal penalty.7 year CD: 2% and penalized six months of interest if you pull funds out early.If you pull funds out after exactly 12 months, it's a wash:1 yr CD @ 1 yr: $10k * 1% = $100.7 yr CD @ 1 yr with penalty: $10k * 2% - [$10k * 2% / 2] = $100.After 18 months...1 yr CD @ 1.5 years: $10k * 1% * 1.5 years = $150.7 yr CD @ 1.5 years and penalized six months of interest: $10k * 2% * 1.5 years - [$10k * 2% * 0.5 years] = $200.So there's your low risk / low reward "CD hacking" tip of the day to get rich by earning an extra $50 on $10k after a year and a half.

Plus most agents are completely unorganized, don't return calls/emails etc. and finding a reliable one in some remote corner of the US isn't worth it to me.The only time I make an exception to this is when I'm researching the property online (zillow, trulia, redfin etc) and while looking at other properties in the neighborhood I see an agent that sold something similar fairly recently.

Go to the BiggerPockets store category and read every book listed.