An Architect can look out for your best interest in the project plus can bring all the Engineers necessary for the build (Civil, Structural, MEP, Sprinkler/Fire suppression, etc.)As far as the build itself, if it's in an established city or town on a tax lot, then you'll need to go through the design and permitting process, gain zoning approval if necessary, and then build up from there.

In it’s most basic definition Buy - Purchase a propertyRehab - Value-add with renovations and rehab things that need to be fixedRent - Find tenants to pay your mortgage (and maybe some cash flow)Refinance - Once the property’s value appreciates from rehab and reappraises for more than you purchased it for plus renos, you can use that gained equity to do a cash out refi.

If you need financial help, ask under the "Finance, Tax, and Legal" forum.

(So yes, you may win the auction for $12,000 owed to the HOA -but now the first mortgager will come after YOU if their primary mortgage isn't paid... and you can be sure the original owner isn't going to continue to pay that if they are out of the house). 

Hi AllI'm on my neighborhood association's problem properties community and we are tracking a large property in Kansas City, owned and managed by an out-of-state investor, who is delinquent on taxes and has multiple housing and health code violations.

This person told me they were doing a lease option with the owner to gain ownership from paying the back taxes.

I asked my mom to see what they want  for the house, I have a hunch that it's payed off and they just want to offload it, they mentioned doing a quick close .. the ARV is about $220k and she's kept up with maintaining the property.I'D buy it with hard money, fix a few things while she pays me rent (the hard money interest rate)  and do a cash out refinance in 6 months.Do you think that's a good strategy?  

After paying the city for a rental license and CO inspection and now a lead inspection, I’m wondering if I should pass these costs onto my tenants or is this just consider these cost that I pay for my business.

@Kyle Castle as long as your bank account(s) that you receive rent $ into and pay expenses out of are integrated to QuickBooks you shouldn’t need anything to bridge the gap.

We've found it has superior reporting features, integration features, and is overall more efficient to work within than other REI-specific software.The downside is QBO is not set up for REI so you'll need to do that or work with an expert to ensure it is set up for your business appropriately.Something else to keep in mind is your entity structure and how your entities file tax returns.