When deciding where to stash your cash, consider high-yield savings accounts with an aim for 3% or more APY—they're easily accessible and earn some interest.

Benaiah Grimes@Benaiah Grimes - I forget if I answered your other question re down payment, but we were fortunate enough to have a "stash" and so I put 20-25% down on everything.

If you take a list from someone else, then pass it along to another list of potential note buyers, that's what we call in the note and NPN investing community a "Joker Broker". 

This last joker proceed to explain that the wholesale price is $225,000.

Over the last two years I've actually made more money settling Do Not Call lawsuits with these jokers than I have earned from my actual real estate portfolio. 

I also like having a relationship so that if/when there's a problem I'm already known to them and not just some joker off the street.

The good news is, if you invest in real estate correctly, there will be a time where your income surpasses your expenses and you'll want to stash some extra cash away into retirement accounts anyway for the tax savings, so it is not a zero sum game.

I am telling you, unless something changes from these jokers, were in for the long haul of these rates. 

As a landlord in the valley, the rent growth is no joke, rent has almost doubled in the last 6 years with no slowing down I'm afraid. 

You'd be using borrowed HELOC money as the down payment to borrow MORE money on a second property, and they want you to have skin in the game, as well as something stashed away in cash reserves.HELOCs are like a credit card -- at a fraction of the 18% the cards are charging.