It wasn’t easy—there were tons of repairs needed, from plumbing and electrical updates to cosmetic fixes like flooring and painting.

My recommendation is to save money through your W2 until you not only have enough for a down payment but a reserve for repairs as well.

I did not know of this time log requirement for STRs, so as a newbie I am going back through emails, texts, phone logs, invoices, etc. to determine how much time I spent on everything.  

Just send me your email and phone. 

The other option for value add is to do it yourself by approaching potential sellers directly via the phone, snail mail, or knocking on doors on main street USA.

Borrowers should always shop around, especially in the hard money space where it is so easy to quickly get preliminary terms over the phone.

I feel like the seller would wait and I could just buy it in cash since I do plan to refinance it anyway and pull out the equity once I’ve done some repairs/upgrades.

Minor drawbacks, it needs a better phone support system, I use a VOIP.that connects with Zoho and could be better.

Having it solid in a spreadsheet instead of in your head or on notebook paper and playing with the numbers for the repair budget isn't wrong.

The previous owner started to repair it.Looks a little rough, but we’ll get her all fixed up.