My mortgage payments are barely a few hundred dollars below rents and when you factor in 300+K minimum in each house, vacancy, repairs, etc. it's barely good for appreciation, or at least it was.

BiggerPockets has a section just for this, Under the BUILD YOUR TEAM tab- then select- MEET UPhttps://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521This is the best way to learn from investors in Houston and what to expect on the market.

This post is my small way of advising against that and hopefully steering some people straight.There's no shame in sitting on cash, building reserves, and being patient right now.

I am planning to rent out my unit in a mixed-use building.

.- **Alternative Strategies**: Continuing with delayed lending (refinancing after repairs and tenant placement) has its merits, allowing you to build equity and stabilize cash flow property by property.Please feel free to DM me.

Does anyone have an approximate cost per sqft to build new construction.

VA would be perfect for house hacking, or just building equity.

What I recommend is probably not good business practice (profit wise)  but i always build great relationships with my tenants ( also they always paid) and I had many over the years. 

@Eric Armstrong BP has a partnership with Invelo, which has list building, CRM, and marketing all in one.

And you are essentially building an illegal room.