You have three in your area. 

My closing date was March 1, three months after the agreement. 

The importance of income from your deals, being SUFFICIENT, cannot be over-stressed! 

Wow three years later and I’m back, thank you all for the responses I have not given up on my dream of investing in real estate, in fact I think I have a plan for my current situation.Currently own my primary residence through a VA home loan.

I have three clients that assure me they will pay a $150 Retainer fee once I find them a house for them to rent.

They will also bid against you until the reserve is met.All three homes I bought were under $25k.  

Deals don't come my way very often unless I make them but two or three times a year I'll get a call and it's a great deal.

Most folks working at your bank are just sales people making $15 an hour, so they may hear the term HELOC and say, oh yeah we do those, when in reality you are actually looking for a different product.I have a Secured LOC on one of my free and clear Rentals, another on my free and clear pickup, and three unsecured lines with just my personal guarantee.Hope that clarifies my earlier comment.

Like a card player going into a game without sufficient reserves for a bad or misplayed hand, you need to bring money into this game or risk losing your shirt.

It turned out, after during a bit more research, that the title actually includes three lots.