They have added a lot of new, exciting things to the forums. 

@Susan O.It could be done, but the transfer in the father's share of ownership would be considered a gift and he would have to pay taxes on the gift.Also, non-married people buying a property together like a father/daughter would lose the capital gains exemption.This is to prevent people from adding their children to dodge estate taxes.

Then again, I invest in Upstate NY, so it makes sense to have 10% extra on hand and why my rule of thumb is state dependent.

What are the must haves and what would be a nice little extra service?

The time specified in the contract was never respected, not the construction set I sent, but the results were going OK, and I was dealing with it, trying to finish.Suddenly The guy disappeared, He didn't reply any or my emails text or calls, even I was following through pictures, some things he said were done, are in reality not done.By mistake the kitchen cabinets and backslash were removed when the construction plans I sent was specified just to paint them, and I'm thinking they probably demolished it by mistake adding a big expense. 

On my property itself, my interest rate was so low that the tax returns at the end of the year and only getting 25%ish of it back (my tax bracket) was not extremely interesting; it was a no-brainer for me to contribute extra cash toward the note and aim for getting the HELOC.

@Sarah BuchananDepending on how bad the flood was and construction of basement I'd be extra cautious on how the remediation was carried out of moving forward.

I just needed to hear the real world expenses and reach out to close friends to see if  2-3 commissions covers cost well still adding value to my own plan.

By borrowing to buy you are adding risk but increasing your returns.

We added a vanilla smell to the last coat.