It's an option that can be used to get into the business, but if you should do it can only be determined by you and your husband, possibly with the help of a CPA or similar professional. 20-45k is generally enough to get started, depending on what you're getting into and where you are.If you are going to be risking your primary residence with a HELOC, my suggestion is that you make sure you could handle the possibility of that money going into a failing investment and getting lost.

At this point I can tap bank loans for much more favorable terms so I should probably hold off on any seller-financing deals until that no longer becomes an option.Overall, the deal seems lose/lose.  12.5% locked in for that long does seem like a low ROI for the seller (especially considering interest rates will likely rise significantly in that time), yet still too high for me for cash flow purposes.

Well it was a foreclosure, so there were delays on behalf of the bank.  

So as most people, I started buying property the tradition bank/ conventional way, with personal credit and guarantee. 

Once it goes through foreclosure, the judgment value is likely to be higher than the price the property is worth and it will end up going to the bank.

at one point I had 11 houses and couldn't get anybody, accountants or bookkeepers, to give me the real numbers.... so I took over few years ago with my excel spreadsheet, directly from bank account, and split between the houses, so I can give my investors a report...However, for accountants, they don't like that, and want to bring me back to Quickbooks... and NOOOOOO WAYYYYY!!!!  

I've wholesaled a few deals to investors obtaining financing but they were through aprivate bank in Dallas that specialized in working with investors.

I've found many banks will only lend a minimum of a 50k loan, which is outside most LTV.

PM and team are ciritical for success I don't know that I would say that one should absolutely have 6 months of operating expenses in their bank account before buying a rental property.

I wasn't sure if the bank would want me to have the money saved and not from a loan.