It's much easier to do these improvements when you acquire than between (or during) renters.

I help people acquire and sell properties.

However, since acquiring the property, the taxes went up by 32% and expenses (which I pay) such as electric, gas and water/sewer have increased significantly (perhaps due to COVID).

My initial thoughts were to take a cash out refi on my house and acquire $200k for my first units.

This prevents misunderstandings with acquired tenants.

It’s the government’s right to take private property for a public purpose, like widening the street, or building the Barclays center 😀.It’s a gamble to decide if the city will actually decide to use the land.They usually provide a “fair market value” and it’s inevitable with time that the property will get acquired.

Unfortunately, you will have to remedy this situation now.

The rule is that you must have acquired (constructed) unit B with the intent of holding for productive use. 

In such cases, the lender must give careful consideration to the nature of the borrower’s level of experience, and the amount of debt the business has acquired."

Then from there you can transition into acquiring additional renters or fixer uppers depending on your skillset and preference.