Really appreciate the time to type that out and explain it to me. 

I’m a licensed broker and investor so feel free to reach out to me or any one of the amazing members on this forum.

Oregon DRE is starting to enforce the licensure laws.Hello Jay,Thank you for getting back to me.

Seems risky to me.

@Eric Winters - To me, that's really going to depend on what you need?

Your return on equity goes down as your loans are paid off, so it makes sense to me to keep leverage on them and invest that 'equity' in higher returning assets aka more homes. 

This deal was presented to me by my plumber who has been maintaining this property for several years It is not currently on the market, the owners have become elderly and ill and they are firm on the price.

It is a book based on research that he and his team performed to let only data speak and not their personal views.So in the first three chapters, some big things stuck out to me.1.

It seems to me getting the mortgage first would make the most sense since the seller would be frustrated if you didn't have the money and someone else did. 

I don't know if that's a route I'd look into since my dad is already into real estate and intends to hand down the ~family business~ to me when I'm of age, I just need to know the ins and out of it all before I jump in, that's why I want to rent some properties of my own and perhaps do a flip or two before he passes the torch.