Experienced investors often see the holiday season as an opportunity due to reduced competition and motivated sellers willing to negotiate for faster closings.

I'm fairly confident from reading online we don't qualify for an exemption, but I'm trying to assess actual closing costs to trying and reduce them All details:Bought the house 2.5 years ago for $980K (left on mortgage $753K), we have a clause for an assumable mortgage for me to take over (I can keep same rate).

Since I have the $500K exemption, does that reduce the exchange amount from $2.5MM to $2MM?

 You may be able to secure higher leverage financing through alternative lenders than a traditional bank (not always the case) and this may help advance your objective of reducing the down payment/cash requirement but that may only be temporary relief as you will likely pay more over the course of the loan because of higher rates and fees.

It's been my experience that adding that to the lease has greatly reduced complaints from the City/neighbors.

I typically build in an inspection contingency into my offers (yes this reduces my competitiveness of my offers, but its also a safety net to protect my bottom line).

Instead of cutting your market in half, I recommend finding ways to allow pets while reducing risk and increasing income.I allow fish tanks up to 20 gallons (275 pounds). 

The idea is to purchase a single-family residence where they would help cover the mortgage, or at least reduce my monthly payments.I’d love to hear from anyone who has experience with house hacking!

@Michael BaumI believe they noted to be another 1/2 point and down to 4.5 by end of year, 3.5 by end of 2025 and 3 by end of 2026.Again mortgage rates are closerly correlated to 10 year not short term rates - so we can see how that reacts and how investors price the 10 year to gauge mortgage ratesI think people think rates will drop tomorrow but the last month rates have been dropping knowing the fed was reducing rates

A cash flow study should be performed to ensure that the refinance does not drastically reduce the property's return.Good luck!