To be successful when you get into investing, you need to have savings, a lot of it to get started and have reserves.You can't house hack with limited downpayment, mediocre credit, and a lower income new job so your goals now should just be to focus on making money, taking care of your dad, and learning about real estate if you really think it's a think you would like long-term and not just the thought of passive income.

So just have your 'spidey senses' about you and really think long and hard before you to commit to anything that is super expensive where the return could be marginal.From a tax perspective, you are bound by the rules of the IRS.  

But if your friend is not the actual buyer and signed the mortgage docs this could be impossible.sell in 2 weeks for cash. this can happen. as stated a above payoff the loan in cash now.If your friend is in title to the property they can file BK  which can be pretty devastating to someone long term but gives them time ..

I am an investor friendly agent with 8 properties myself and doing str, medium term, long term and rent by the room strategies.

If you do this you'll have a huge pile of money that will allow you to pursue whatever strategy you want very quickly.If I had to do it all over again, I would buy a personal residence as soon as I could, probably house hack, then buy a new personal residence as soon as I had the money for another down payment then turning the old house into a long term rental.If you're just starting I'd also recommend listening to the Bigger Pockets and Real Estate Rookie Podcasts.

Yes you can refinance out as long as you qualify and meet the terms of the lender2.

But who wants to wait that long?

My realtor says they’re pretty good but I am not sure an ARM is smart when I’m not putting a lot down and plan to keep this property long term.

Why do you think purchase contracts are so long and have such small print?

Here are a few initial questions that I have: - I'm wondering if there's a recommended corporate structure for these type of business activities, focused primarily on both short-term and long-term rentals.