@Cleon Wilson It's always good experience until you don't have time to constantly go back and forth to certain sellers' properties that aren't as motivated.

@Jeremy Taylor - This may help:Linear = conservative markets where price appreciation is typically slow and steady - the up and down cycles aren't very dramatic and cash flow is great.

I have two properties currently under contract for 170/180k but they are in Arlington and Fort Worth and aren’t ideal for house hacking as they’re lower income areas. 

The MLS is hard for investor deals right now, mostly because, as Becca mentioned, there aren't enough homes for the people moving here so owner-occupy buyers are more emotionally attached and will to spend more than an investor typically is. 

So if the purchase price is super low, the title policy could be pretty low, but the legal fees aren't really going to change much.  

The truth is they aren't and have to advertise and try to sell the house (contract).

I have listened to a lot of the podcasts and read a lot of books so I know about the other sources of getting leads but I have a VA loan to use to buy my first property so there are some pretty specific restrictions with that .I'm using the VA loan because I have no money for a downpayment so FHA and conventional loans aren't an option.

You aren't marketing enough.2.

You'll also need to watch your back in neighborhoods that aren't too fond of bandit signs on public parkways.

Correct me if i am wrong, A HELOC is like a credit card in the means that you only pay interest on what you use. you can access it over and over again and pay it off over and over again but you don't pay interest on anything more than what you pulled out. where the cash out refinance is a loan so if you don't invest every penny into something then you are paying interest on money you aren't using.