Not a big difference but I do have some equity to free up that can be used towards a future down payment.My biggest issue is that I have great credit and would be more concerned about the potential negative effect of a credit inquiry, and might be better served simply using the good credit (as is with no further inquiries) in order to borrow a bit more (instead of a refi for extra down payment money).

I still have no idea why people use buyers agents instead of dealing directly with the listing agent.Unless you don't know the area well and need advice or you otherwise don't understand how the home buying process works, I can't see a need.I find they cloud things up and create an extra layer of mesh to get through.

If there is no escrow account open with the down payment (extra cash on top of rent) going to that account, where is it going?

So not having those reserves is just really high risk in my opinion.I dont want to discourage you, I just know that on my first flip i ended up needing an extra 10k for holding costs in the end I still made money but if I hadn't had the resources at the time I would have been in really big trouble.

I currently exercise a buy and hold strategy, but have decided to do a couple of flips in between rentals to generate extra working capital.  

hi guys and gals I have a question my father wants to buy a home for my sister he already has a mortgage with the VA he's a Vietnam vet he doesn't have extra cash on hand he does make very good money 120k a year and he's just started getting s.s. benefits at 1400 a month the home he wants is 125k and the seller is taking off 12k because we know them and it needs a roof and other cosmetic fixes so selling price is 113k my sister wants to do more rehab and give it an open floor plan so about 50k what loans will give us the purchase price plus rehab?

I do know that hotels have to pay an extra tax (something like 0.5%) because their tenants are "transient," (under 6 months), in the State of Florida and most likely other states as well.

Some investors want to know the seller has an actual legitimate hardship, and/or are looking to see if they can't get some extra cash from the seller at closing, or to issue a 5-10 promissory note to the seller to reduce the delinquency.There is also the issue of the investors requiring a lot of exceptions to offers that hold up the actual deals.

I feel like I should at least be making some cash flow, but after the mortgages are paid, PM collects her fee (8%) and any repairs,maintenance, taxes or insurance are paid, I'm left with no extra income. something seems amiss here and when I ask PM she says this is normal and to be expected the first few years of owning rental property.

Extra good communication with those folks.Oh, and do NOT allow your tenants to use their own bank's billpay service.