A landlord who is not over-leveraged to begin with may simply refinance their loan even when prices go down just to re-amortize the loan and lower the payment to preserve cash-flow.

Getting one property and cashflowing it will be a challenge. you can try seller financing but you are still going to be highly levered which just enhances the risk that you are taking on.The best way to grow is to focus on managing your rental, saving money through your W2 and crushing that - if you are a realtor you will make more crushing it as being a realtor than over leveraging real estate - then save for down payment and buy slowly. its not a rush.

Wondering if you have advice on me just being the bank, where I purchase a house and structure a rent to own with him and have him build up a 30% cash down payment and some equity and then me sell the house to him at a locked in price.  

For the experienced cohosts in the group, I’d love to get your thoughts on payment processing options for cohosting companies (LLCs) that position themselves as property management companies but operate without a broker’s license.As an investor and soon-to-be STR entrepreneur, my business will initially focus on managing a small portfolio of vacation rentals with plans to scale. 

Consider all the things that could go wrong and see if the lease addresses them: unauthorized pets or tenants, early termination, security deposit, lease violations, late rent, eviction, lawn maintenance, parking, etc.5.

Not saying anyone should, but I cashed out a couple of old 401Ks to make the down payments. 

though; (1) there are tenants in the house on a two year lease (payments are enough to cover mortgage payments), and (2) the Seller wants the option to buy back the property in two years.

This friend and I have done 2–3 deals together, and there’s never been a payment dispute or even a hint of cutting him out of something.

Will all of your vendors take a credit card as payment?

Low down payment (3.5%) is attractive, but comes with mortgage insurance and might not offer the best rates.