I'm going through a HUGE learning curve right now with the wealth of info out there, and trying to figure out all the steps and parties needed to buy property.Any good tips or resources for checking the strength of the rental market in a particular area or neighborhood, prior to making an offer?

Hi guys, it seems like since the "Stress Test" was implemented checking for "borrowing strength" by mortgage advisers depends solely on income/salary regardless of cash in hand.  

Hi guys, it seems like since the "Stress Test" was implemented checking for "borrowing strength" by mortgage advisers depends solely on income/salary regardless of cash in hand.

On the lower-end, these would likely go for somewhere in the ballpark of $800k+ though (depending on the neighborhood).To keep this short, Hawaii's strength is the stability, and lately, growth of our market in contrast to most markets on the mainland.

@Lou Gonzales not many things are like the restaurant business. i think we have different strengths which is why a partnership could be a really good thing for us 

Hi, if you took inventory of your strengths then you might be able to narrow down which area within "real estate" that you should start in.

The real strength of the area comes from the opportunities for cash flow.

Even when people made mistakes buying the wrong property hired the wrong people, analyze the deal incorrectly got saved because of the strength of the market. 

A lot of banks have introductory rates for HELOCs that they use as a loss leader for the branch and you can shop around for the lowest rate or any bonuses they have because its the cheapest money you can borrow.Once you have that line of credit, rather than utilizing it as collateral for downpayments on leveraged properties, I would use it to leverage the strength of cash offers on distressed properties ideally to motivated sellers that allow you better access to good deals compared to those with financing contingencies.

My strengths lean more toward the technical side so I wanted to make sure I understood what I was using to guide my decisions.As far as closing cost is concerned, the HML i've talked to stated that there were no closing costs above and beyond his origination points.