We'll probably begin seriously looking after the holidays and be ready to invest sometime in the spring/summer of next year... we have my son's wedding to take care of first. 

HiJust random mortgage finance guy recommended from my current realtor who is newbie/told me that offer we put in was accepted by the selling agent and needed proof of pre-approval to move forward.Finance guy told me over the phone that whether I get the loan for $20,000.00 or 300,000.00  it will end up costing me around $3500.00, meaning even if I use my $50K cash I still need the whole loan process to get the rest of money. again, that is why I posted the question that if it would be smarter to just get the HELOC(which I need more time to get it approved) or traditional loan with benefits. at the same time, I did not want the seller to get a better offer over the weekendHad I thought this through, I would have gone to my bank and got all this taken care prior to putting an offer....plus my newbie realtor told me that it's all good, no worries, your credit score is so high... but I needed the proof of my loan approved real quick but everything was closed over the weekends.

Someone moves a dresser, or bed, scrapes it, they won't care... sorry, mark my words, accidents happen at any income!   

Advice: Treat it like a business as much as you can, even though house-hacking can feel like a hobby, stay organized, and take care of your property and your tenants (pride of ownership, people notice this), for all properties but especially for househacks.I definitely think the pros outweigh the cons, especially folks with flexibility of time and lifestyle.

No one cares about your money like you do. 3)  Discuss expectations with your JV partner. 

As you’ve done more deals, and carefully documented them and the results, your track record will speak for itself and will be a key element of establishing trust amongst investors that don’t already know you. 

How is a fair “fee” for the bird-dogging service I’m basically doing calculated?

If the total number of properties is more than four, you may have to amass substantial cash reserves before you will qualify for conventional financing for your fifth through tenth acquisitions.Once you have launched your acquisition plan, the income taxes tend to take care of themselves.  

And, in the end, sell them.I take care of property management, finding tenants, signing contracts with them, maintenance, repairs, etc.We split everything 50/50, ownership, mortgage, expenses, net cash flow, amortization, capital gains, ...Now there are three points specifically that cause me some headache.

I took care of most of that problem by adding lock washers.