The energy company is targeting power back up by Friday, except for inaccessible areas. 

Transparency, I thought I would never be able to afford Alexandria either.We showed up to Old Town Alexandria and started renting. 4 months later we found an affordable house in Woodbridge we could get into for a year with low down, then rent it, in the mean time we recoup the capital from our other 2 properties to go buy again after that 12 months.

Go to meet ups, ask for refers, Facebook is a great tool for look for recommendations too

Private money lending offers the ability to structure deals in ways traditional lenders won’t, such as faster closings and tailored terms like interest-only payments or balloon payments.

I was hoping to structure a deal that involves paying the seller every month and then a balloon payment in 5 years (when I can get an 80% LTV cash out refinance to put a mortgage on the property without having to put any money down because I'll have built up at least 20%).

I have a long history in real estate first being licensed in 2005, then went into financing, back to real estate all while owning my own hospitality business for over 12 years as a single mom of two, building it from the ground up.

Depending on the size of the ADU vs the main property, you would probably be looking at either a "heavy rehab" loan - or a "ground up construction" loan.

It's very easy to get caught up on the names of policies. 

If you are doing single family rentals, I would suggest 30-50% of the acquisition price so you have enough for down payment, closing and some reserves. 

At this point in our market it seems like to me the better option would be using the HELOC for the entire purchase just because the interest on two different loans would eat up any possible cash flow.